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Oct 06, 2017

Artifact from the Archives

Item: Silver Cup trophy "Mammoth Mt. 1964 1st Place Women"

The Mammoth Archery Club hosted the 3rd Annual "Mammoth Lakes Family Fun Shoot" on 4th of July weekend in 1964. Two articles detailing the event appeared in 1964 Archery magazine issues June and August. More information on this historical artifact is needed. Who was it awarded to? It was recorded that Jack Nelson won 1st place Man, but the name of the woman who won was not reported.

Unfortunately the Mammoth Archery Club has at some point disbanded and much of the history may be lost. If you have any historical information, photographs, or other club and tournament stories, please share them with us. When was the Mammoth Archery Club founded? When did the club dissipate?

If you know of a friend/family member that has information on the 1950s-1960s California Mammoth Lake/Mt archery history, please help them get in touch with us. The NFAA will continue to ask our members for help in filling in gaps in our archery history.

Thank you!

Excerpts from Archery Magazine Volume 36, 1964.

Event announcement as printed in Archery June, 1964 (page 60) by Doug Kittredge:

This is the "big one"! The Third Annual Mammoth Lakes Family Fun Shoot held in the beautiful High Sierras at Mammoth Lakes, Calif. The shoot dates are Saturday and Sunday, July 4 and 5, but with all the fishing, sight-seeing, and just plain relaxing to be had in this mountain wonderland, many of the archers will plan on spending a few days before or after the shoot taking it all in. As in the past, the shoot is being planned for family participation. Distances will be close range so everyone can hit. Targets will be the popular cut-out silhouette animals, life-size and in full color. Target arrows are all that's needed.

We will use the timber covered archery range of the Mammoth Archery Club, located just outside the Mammoth Lakes Village? The shoot will be informally run, with no specific time schedules. Saturday 28 targets will be shot and 14 on Sunday, plus exciting novelty events. Shooting starts at 8:00 a.m. each day, but participants can pick whatever time they wish to shoot as long as they complete the ranges by the end of the day. They also may shoot with whoever they wish. Costs will run $3.00 a person, $5.00 a family.

Our local Lions Club is handling the refreshments at the range and promises plenty of hot coffee, cold soft drinks, beer, hot dogs and a special treat of genuine High Sierra barbequed beans. The "Get Together" dinner and dance will be held Saturday night at the famous Mammoth Mountain Inn. Happy Hour at 7:00 -- Dinner at 8:00 -- Dance until who knows? We are promised a superb meal of prime rib cut thick as your finger, with all the trimmings. Cost will run in the neighborhood of $3.50 a plate.

I'll have our shop open until about 12:00 pm Friday night to give a place where questions can be answered. We'll have plenty of hot coffee for those who need a lift. The shop is on the right hand side of the Mammoth Lakes Highway, just as you pass the Ranger Station and start into the Village-- everyone is welcome. The Mammoth Lakes Archery Club is sponsoring this shoot. It has been terrific the past years and this one promises to be even better!

Event review as printed in Archery August, 1964 (page 62) by Roy Hoff:

Again the Mammoth Mountain "Fun Shoot" was all the term implies--- shooting if and when you pleased and if you didn't get enough shooting the first time around, you were permitted to go at it again. Of course, to keep the record straight and for award of trophies, the first round was the one recorded on the scoreboard.

Yes, indeed, it was great fun. The archers shot at free-standing animal silhouettes; not with miserly kill areas but those of generous size. It has been said that archers can have fun even if they spend more time behind the targets than in front. Well, they'll have to prove it to this reporter. There were 136 archers at this shoot, mostly from the heavily populated Los Angeles area. To get away from that smog-filled basin surely must have been a treat. Many archers camped out and lived it up by shooting a couple of rounds in the morning and going fishing in the afternoon. Our thanks to the Department of Fish and Game. I do not believe there was even one stream or lake in the Mammoth Lakes area which was not stocked prior to the Fourth of July weekend, the dates of this shoot.

That China Lake outfit I reported in regard to the Castaways Shoot, are getting real rough on those who have ideas about taking home some of the hardware. Jack Nelson of said China Lake shot the top score for the two-day aggregate beating out his hometown buddy, Jack Albin, who won the event last year.

Robert and Sheila Steadman took home a handsome big silver bowl emblematic of the best husband and wife team. Lou Shine, our newly-crowned state champ, saved the day for the home town folks by beating Sheila Steadman --- from China Lake, wouldn't you know it!! Winning the bowl for the highest scoring family were the Jepersens; Robert, Carline and Marie of Fillmore, California. The event was co-sponsored by Kittredge Archery Company, and Archery Incorporated. Archers were permitted on the ranges before the tournament, so all distances were marked for the actual competition.

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