In 2016 Blue Ridge Rifles Muzzleloader Club celebrates its 40th anniversary with its five-day Eastern Pennsylvania Rendezvous and Muzzleloader Shoot over Memorial Day Weekend and its four-day Labor Day Weekend Rendezvous and Shoot at its 22-acre range, located off Route 183, south of Summit Station.

Early arrivals can begin setting up camps, Thursday, May 26, at noon, for the Memorial Day event, with activities through Sunday, May 29, and break down the following morning. Informal shooting events and seminars will be held Friday and competitive shooting events will be held, Saturday and Sunday, May 28-29.A self-supporting muzzleloader club founded in 1976, Blue Ridge provides both pre-1840 primitive camping and modern camping areas at its 22-acre range. Like other clubs affiliated with the Pennsylvania Federation of Black Powder Shooters, Blue Ridge Rifles is dedicated to the preservation and advancement of the lifestyle, ideals, patriotism and freedoms of early American pioneers between the years of 1750-1840.Blue Ridge is dedicated to preserving and teaching early American History as it relates to pre-Colonial Pennsylvania with various living-history programs. The club is being honored for its 40-year commitment by Schuylkill County commissioners George Halcovage, Gary Hess and Frank Staudenmeier; Pennsylvania State Senator Dave Argall; and Pennsylvania State Representatives Neal Goodman, Jerry Knowles and Mike Tobash during closing ceremonies Sunday, May 29, at 6 p.m. since its founding club members have presented living-history encampments at the Bavarian Festival, Schuylkill County Fair, Bear Creek Festival and Locust Lake State Park.One of 25 clubs that are members of the Pennsylvania Federation of Black Powder Shooters, Blue Ridge is also affiliated with the National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association, the National Rifle Association, the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen's Club and the Schuylkill County Sportsmen's Association. Club members donate their time to participate in various educational events to promote muzzleloader shooting, and the range has been the site for muzzleloader and .22 shooting during the three-day Norm Thornburg Youth Conservation Camp sponsored by the Schuylkill County Sportsmen's Association and JAKES Day sponsored by the Schuylkill Spurs Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation.All shooting events are open to campers and day visitors, informal shooting will include blanket shoots and a woods walk. To enter a blanket shoot, participants place a prize of a designated value on a blanket, and prizes are then selected in order of finish, and a woods walk involves shooting at targets of unknown distances, similar to hunting.Two days of competitive target shooting will be held Saturday and Sunday, May 28 and 29, for traditional flintlock and percussion muzzleloaders loaded with black powder and shooting patched roundballs. Paper targets are shot at 50 and 25 yards for rifles, smoothbores with the match sponsored by Dixon Muzzleloader Shop, Kempton - and pistols with the match sponsored by an anonymous donor. There are events for men, women and juniors, and D.G. Yuengling and Sons Brewery is continuing its sponsorship of the Yuengling 50-Yard Challenge Match.Again this year, Bass Pro Shops, Harrisburg, is sponsoring the women's match and the Pennsylvania Outdoor Writers Association and Schuylkill County Sportsmen's Association has unwritten the juniors match, which is open to competitors 16 and younger at both events. There is no registration fee or target charge for junior shooters, with the three top competitors receiving prizes.There is a primitive match with novelty targets at varying distances - which is sponsored by NMLRA field representative Bob and Gerry Rubbo - and specialty matches are held after the regular shooting events for rifles, fowlers and shotguns. These matches include clay birds and candle shoots, which are shot at dark with competitors attempting to shoot out the flame without hitting the candle stick.Separate from the firing line is a primitive archery woods walk and a knife and tomahawk area. There are also non-shooting events and primitive games for children.Club grounds are approximately one mile north of the site along the Appalachian Trail where Fort Dietrich Snyder once stood. This fort was one in a series of frontier fortifications along the Blue Mountain that served as a place of refuge in the mid-1750s for settlers during the French and Indian War.Primitive attire is encouraged, but not required at the two holiday shoots. Only those in primitive attire are permitted in the camping area during the two special events.For information on Blue Ridge Rifles Muzzleloader Club email

brrifles@gmail.com or access the club page on Facebook.