The first meeting on April 20th in 1933 was held at a camp owned by John Kerinski, with just a few initial members. The first set of bylaws was voted in on August 2nd of that year. At that time the country was in the middle of the Great Depression, work on the Golden Gate Bridge just began, the government voted to end prohibition, Mount Rushmore was dedicated, the movie King Kong premiered, the game of Monopoly was invented, the first drive-in movie opened, the first major league baseball All-Star Game was held, and the first solo flight around the world happened. A busy year indeed, but also included the start of the Pachaug Outdoor Club!
As mentioned above, the first meetings were held at John Kerinski’s camp. Then they moved the meetings to another member’s camp. Then in 1938 the meetings were moved to the Pachaug Town Hall. In April of 1941 town records show that POC purchased a small house and the land that came with it, the site of our present clubhouse. It was the home of “Banjo” Sullivan, and he still lived there for a couple more years. The clubhouse then was not the large building it is today. Over the years the building was added on to. The kitchen wasn’t there, nor was the present dining hall. There were no indoor ranges. The road was not paved at that time. People would stop to listen to Mr. Sullivan play the banjo, hence his nickname. The road was obviously named after him.
There have been some nationally and internationally renowned members. David Geer won World Champion title for wood chopping in 1960. At the same time he was high shooter for the year in the rifle league. Richard “Bud” Budzeck won title of U.S. Senior Veteran Trap Champion at the Nationals in 1992. Ed Matunas, a former POC Board member, first worked in the firearms and ammunition industry. He later went on and authored 14 books and more than 700 magazine articles as a firearms and outdoor writer. Over time the indoor ranges were constructed. It wasn’t until the 1990s that what is known as the small bore range today was fully completed.
Trap shooting was one of the early activities. It began as an informal handthrown affair. Trap continues to be a popular event on Saturday mornings and Wednesday evenings for almost the entire year, until the shooters succumb to the worst weather of winter.
The Outdoor Rifle range was originally located closer to the POC southerly boundary, but was relocated to its present position many years ago to provide a buffer between it and land being developed by others. The outdoor pistol range has always been popular, and for the last several years has been host to organized plate shoots and tactical matches. Archery had been present for much of the club’s existence. Thanks to the age of the home computer and subsequent personal electronic devises, the ability to communicate increased leaps and bounds. The club website went live in 2006.


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