RAPIDS ARCHERY CLUB

Founding of the Club

According to an original member , Jerry Bennett, whom I interviewed over the telephone, and documents that he provided, The Rapids Archery Club was formed in 1958-59. The organizational meeting was held in the barbershop of Marvin Markeson in Coon Rapids. Charter members were: Jerry Bennett, Darrell Danielson, Emmett Danielson, Merlin Gunderson, Clifford Jarvi, Curtis L. Johnson, Marvin Markeson, and Richard Murphy. Other early members included Geraldine Bennett, Jerry's wife, Jack and Donnay Hasselfeldt, Larry Marotte, and Dick and Lorraine Sells and their daughter.

Buying the Range Very early the club bought 20 acres of land for its field course, paying the then large sum of $2000. Merlin Gunderson wrote that the club purchased the first 20 acres on Larch Street off Co. Rd 242, from a farmer who raised donkeys. A couple of years later the club bought an additional 22 acres for $2200. That kind of money was not easy for the organizers to raise, and Jerry Bennett's father helped to finance the loan for the second purchase.

Well, how does it feel to own 40 acres of land, all paid for. I know it gave those of us who were in on the final payment a good feeling to hand over the check which paid off the land debt.  Now just, because the land is paid for, let's not stop. If we do, our club is doomed. We have to have something to work and drive for.

The First Indoor Range
When the club bought the land it was rural, but as time went on urban sprawl began to surround it,  bringing new problems. The club decided to sell the land to Anoka County in 1972 when it couldn't afford the  assessment for sewers that were being put in. After the club sold its range to Anoka County on April 7, 1972,  (Dottie Bork provided a copy of the sale, signed by Roy Lillo, President, and Marie M. Wadsworth, Treasurer)  for $52,750 opinions were sharply divided as to what to do with this money. Some wanted to augment it and  buy a new range farther north, near St. Francis. Others felt that a building on the present range would be better  if a satisfactory arrangement with the county could be worked out. Eventually the latter prevailed.

A note in "The Gazette" indicates that the club furnished refreshments, including beer, for Tuesday night work parties in 1973. Was that the start of something, or was it a continuation from earlier years? The shoots were moved into the new building when it was completed in the winter of (76-77). It was much more spacious than any previous site, and became the best club facility in the state.