Schuylkill County – and the rest of the country – was a vastly different place 100 years ago.

“Texting” wasn’t part of the vocabulary; in fact, only about eight percent of households had a phone. Only 8,000 cars motored along the country’s meager 144 miles of paved roads, at an average speed of 10 miles per hour.Usain Bolt is faster.Nearly all children were born at home and only six percent of them graduated from high school, to jobs that paid about 22 cents per hour. It would have been hard to save for retirement, but, not to worry – the average man had a life expectancy of 47.The Ashland Gun and Country Club was chartered more than 100 years ago, on March 25, 1916. Instead of celebrating its 100th anniversary in March, the club decided to hold that celebration in conjunction with the annual Commissioner’s Shoot, which will be held Sept. 17.“It’s going to be a bigger event than ever,” said club president Dan Cuff, Ashland. “In addition to the trap shooting, the registration fee will cover the picnic, which will have food, tap beer or soda, and a D.J. and dancing beginning at 8 p.m.” The Ashland Gun Club is located on Country Club Road, Fountain Springs.On Sept. 17, the sign-up begins at 9 a.m. and the shooting starts at 10 a.m. The registration fee is $45 for shooters ($55 for shooter with guest; non-shooters $20 each or $30 per couple). Shooters will take aim at 100 “clay bird” targets, broken up into 50 targets from the 16-yard line, 25 from the 18-yard line and 25 from the 21-yard line. The club is sponsoring $500 in prize money.“The prize money will be split between the top shooters,” Cuff said. “All shooters will be eligible for randomly-drawn cash prizes.”The event is called the Commissioners’ Shoot because, historically, the Schuylkill County Commissioners present the trophies and prizes to the winning shooters. Cuff said that in addition to the men’s division, there will also be trophies for Ladies and Juniors (17 years old and younger).“I’m proud to say that we have a lot of young shooters at the club,” Cuff said. “Membership is only $10 a year, and we have a busy shooting schedule.”Shoots are held Wednesdays beginning at 5 p.m., Fridays at 6 p.m. and Sundays at 4 p.m. Today the club has 24 stockholders and more than 200 regular members.A Little History1831 – a Trap Shooting event was held in Cincinnati, OH. Birds were used as targets and released from traps.1866 - Charles Portlock of Boston, MA introduced the glass target ball from England. Glass ball matches were held during the remainder of the 19th century.1868 - Fred Kimble of Knoxville, IL invented the choke bore shotgun.1880 - Invention of the clay target by George Ligowsky of Cincinnati, Ohio. He would introduce the target at the conclusion of the New York State Shoot at Coney Island to a group of shooters. It became an instant success. Ligowsky was also instrumental in the staging of the first national trapshoot in New Orleans in 1885.1884 – Fred Kimble and a partner, Charlie Stock, invented the composition clay target.Unlike the Ligowsky target, which was made of baked clay, it broke when hit. It was called the Peoria Black Bird. It was made of coal-tar, pitch and other ingredients and was shiny black in color. They also made a trap to throw this target.