The Ontelaunee Rod & Gun Club, New Tripoli, will host the East Coast I-CORE (International Confederation of Revolver Enthusiasts) Championship from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday May 31. The event is expected to draw more than 50 shooters. It's open to spectators; eye and ear protection should be worn.

It's no surprise that organizers at the national level chose Ontelaunee as the East Coast site. The thriving club, nestled on a private road off the west side of Route 309, has about 5,000 members. Its well-groomed grounds, more than 200 acres, include archery, skeet and trap shooting ranges; and numerous pistol and rifle ranges."You'd find it hard to name a better club east of the Mississippi," said member Fred Pickard. "The grounds and set-up are outstanding, and that's largely because of the volunteer spirit of our members."Pickard and about two dozen others shoot regularly at the club. Pickard is a revolver enthusiast, who will be shooting at the I-CORE East Coast Championship.Mike and Sharon Higaski founded I-CORE in 1991. The competition features targets with four scoring areas, with a mix of falling and stationary steel plates. There are nine I-Core regions in the country, and the national championship will be held Sept. 27 in Fallon, Nevada.Technically, a revolver is a type of pistol. A pistol is magazine-fed, which means that ammunition is loaded into a magazine or clip. The ammunition is stacked in the magazine, and the bullets are fed automatically into the chamber.With the revolver, bullets are loaded into a cylinder, which revolves after each shot, rotating the next round into position. A revolver will hold from five to eight rounds.Andy and Maureen Tihansky, Oley, are newcomers to the Ontelaunee Rod & Gun Club. They joined after taking an "Introduction to Competition Shooting" class at Cabela's. The class was taught by Tim Miller, who is vice-president at Ontelaunee.Was Maureen intimidated on her first visit to the club?"The club members are very friendly and the atmosphere is great here," she said. "Practice makes perfect, and you get a lot of good instruction and tips because so many of the people here are very knowledgeable."Tom Olewine, who's on the Board of Directors at Ontelaunee, said that the club welcomes new members, and makes sure they get a complete orientation of everything that's available on the grounds. The schedule is full of various types of events to encompass many interests."We run ATA (American Trap Association shoots, an annual Sporting Clays competition, Thursday evening Skeet shooting, and host the Lehigh Valley Trap League," Olewine said. "We raise and stock pheasants, have a Youth Field Day, Youth Archery, and a Junior Rifle Team."We have high-power rifle matches, hold a hunter/trapper safety course and a junior fishing contest. We hold a Women in the Outdoors, and various pistol shoots. There is always something going on, and something for everybody."Being chosen to host the I-CORE Eastern Regional Competition is an honor, Pickard said."Ontelaunee Rod & Gun Club was established in 1935," Pickard said. "We'll have people from as far away as Canada coming for the competition, which is going to be something great for our area."