Sport
10 August, 2023
Emotional annual traditional gathering for archery club
The Golden Triangle Archery Club in Dunolly had their annual edition of their traditional gathering recently, but with plenty of emotion attached to it. With regular club member Jack Guelen still recovering from injuries sustained in a car accident...
The Golden Triangle Archery Club in Dunolly had their annual edition of their traditional gathering recently, but with plenty of emotion attached to it.
With regular club member Jack Guelen still recovering from injuries sustained in a car accident on July 3, members from clubs around Victoria, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory converged on Dunolly for their event, which featured a raffle to help provide funds for the Guelen family.
Golden Triangle’s Nola Freemantle said as a result, the club had a successful edition of their traditional gathering.
“Generally, we have between 30 and 50 archers. We had 47 archers this year, and 85 people altogether attended,” she said.
“We have had people from all over Victoria, New South Wales and also Canberra. They came down, as we have travelled all over those places to do archery, and the Guelen family in particular have travelled and supported a lot of other clubs, as well as our own, and that’s why we had a good turnout.”
As Freemantle explains, the traditional gathering is a celebration of the traditional aspects of archery, using old-fashioned equipment.
“We use traditional bows and arrows, instead of compounds. We use long bows, recurves and historical bows. And we have a men’s section, women’s section, juniors and Cubs (under 10),” she said.
“During the weekend, we also have axe and knife throwing as well, and we generally have that on late-Saturday afternoon when there is still some light and everyone has finished their course.
“We also had some novelty events, such as shooting the apple off the head, William Tell-style, as well as a running pig, which is a 3D foam target running down a zipline.
“We supplied all the food, breakfast and tea, and we also offered a fancy dress for anyone who wished to do so.”
The club’s raffle was a success, according to Freemantle.
“We had a raffle, which raised over $800 to go towards Jack,” she said.
“We can only thank the volunteers and club members who came along, donated things for the raffle table, set up the course. Without them, the event wouldn’t have run.
“When the community heard about Jack, they rallied around and helped support him too.
“The Hunter Valley club, in New South Wales was one of them. The family have been travelling up there since Jack was about five or six. They would go up to their annual shoot.”
Freemantle has been keeping regular tabs on Jack’s condition, which is improving.
“Jack is still in hospital in Melbourne, but he is progressing. He is out of a coma, and while he still has broken bones, progress is going the right way, even if it is slow,” she said.
The thoughts very much remained with Jack when the club had their traditional gathering.
“We had a picture of him doing archery placed around the club on the weekend. He was there in spirit,” Freemantle said.
“There’s been a big community effort to help him. They’re a nice family and they do lots of stuff for different clubs around the area. Lots of different archery clubs have raffled off bows and raised funds for them too. It’s really good.”
To donate to help the Guelen family with Jack’s treatment, visit www.gofundme.com/f/help-jack-and-his-family-with-medical-bills
