Abilene Clay Sports

09/09/2026

The Champions of the 1964 Brookhaven Open

The trophies tell the story. Gathered behind an impressive display of silverware at the Nassau Trap and S***t Club are four accomplished competitors from the 1964 Brookhaven Open, a regional registered trap and s***t competition held on Long Island.

Standing at left is Dom Piscitelli, the All-Around Champion, whose shooting accomplishments reached well beyond Brookhaven. Piscitelli became the first Connecticut shooter to break 100 straight targets with the demanding .410 bore shotgun. He also made his mark internationally, capturing the .410 title at the Canadian and Quebec S***t Championships in

Next is Bill Norman, 2-Man Team Co-Champion, a highly ranked Connecticut competitor who continued to distinguish himself well into the following decade. In the early 1970s, Norman earned positions on Connecticut’s All-State Second Team in both the 12-gauge and 28-gauge divisions. He represented the Lordship area, home of the historic Re*****on Gun Club.

Beside him stands Gerald LeFrancois, 12-Gauge Champion, a key member of the formidable Nutmeg S***t Club lineup. Just months after this photograph was taken, LeFrancois demonstrated his versatility by winning an Open .410 Gauge Championship with a perfect 50-for-50, adding another title to an already impressive competitive record.

At right is Robert “Bob” E. Zawada, 12-Gauge Runner-Up, a talented New York s***t shooter who had already earned recognition as a state champion. Interestingly, Zawada’s accuracy wasn’t limited to a shotgun. He was also an accomplished golfer and recorded an extraordinary four career holes-in-one at the Brookside Country Club.

The photograph is more than a lineup of winners. With polished trophies covering the table and championship silver filling the shelves behind them, it captures a wonderful moment from the golden era of American club s***t shooting—when local and regional shoots brought together some remarkably talented competitors, and a weekend at the gun club could produce stories remembered for decades.

Steve Ellinger

09/08/2026

There are some old photographs that immediately make you stop and look twice—and this is one of them.

The image shows shooters gathered at the Sharpshooters Gun Club in Chicago, near the intersection of Western and Belmont Avenues. But look closely at the background. Rising almost unbelievably behind the trap field is an amusement park—and a wooden roller coaster.

That amusement park would eventually become the legendary Riverview Park, one of the largest and most famous amusement parks in America. Remarkably, its story began with trapshooting.

The grounds were originally operated by the North Chicago Sharpshooters Association, with William Schmidt and his family developing what became known as Sharpshooters’ Park. During the late 1800s, the club attracted sportsmen who competed with live pigeons as well as the increasingly popular artificial targets of the era, including Bogardus glass balls and Ligowski clay targets.

But there was a problem.

While the men could spend an entire day shooting, their wives and children had very little to do. The Schmidts began adding attractions to keep the rest of the family entertained—a teeter-totter, slide, wading pool, pony rides and eventually a dance hall.

What began as a few diversions soon took on a life of its own.

As Chicago’s streetcar system expanded, thousands of people suddenly had easy access to the grounds. In 1904 alone, the park reportedly hosted 25 major picnics, with individual crowds ranging from 5,000 to an astonishing 35,000 visitors.

The Schmidts recognized an opportunity.

With financial backing from a local lawyer and banker, the property was officially transformed into Riverview Sharpshooters’ Park on July 2, 1904. The shooting grounds remained, but three major mechanical rides were added to anchor the growing midway.

One of them was the appropriately named White Flyer, a wooden roller coaster—the same coaster visible behind the shooters in this remarkable photograph.

For a brief period, two very different worlds existed side by side.

Imagine riding the White Flyer while hearing the sharp report of shotguns from the trap fields nearby. Amusement-park visitors screamed their way around the wooden coaster while, only a short distance away, shooters calmly called for their next target.

It was an extraordinary combination—and one I know of nowhere else in trapshooting history.

But the amusement park was becoming far too successful.

Within only a few years, rides and attractions began consuming the property once devoted to shooting. By 1908, the enormous crowds made operating a gun range alongside a booming amusement park increasingly impractical. The trap fields were dismantled, the shooting grounds disappeared beneath new attractions, and even the word “Sharpshooters” vanished from the park’s name.

What remained was simply Riverview Park.

From its modest beginnings on roughly 22 acres, Riverview eventually grew into a sprawling 140-acre entertainment empire, famous for its spectacular—and sometimes terrifying—wooden roller coasters. For generations of Chicagoans, it became an institution before finally closing in September 1967.

Few of the millions who later walked through Riverview’s gates probably realized that the great amusement park had grown from the grounds of a shooting club.

That is what makes this photograph so fascinating.

It captures the precise moment when one era was giving way to another: trapshooters standing in the foreground while the White Flyer rises behind them.

To my knowledge, it is the only known photograph showing the Sharpshooters’ trap fields and Riverview’s White Flyer roller coaster together in the same image—a remarkable glimpse of the unlikely shooting club that helped give birth to one of America’s legendary amusement parks.

09/07/2026

Coming off the trap field at the 1945 Grand American are two of the era’s most accomplished women shooters—Florence Mos and Mrs. Van N. Marker. Moments earlier, both had broken 94 of 100 targets from 19 yards, forcing a shoot-off for the Grand American Ladies Championship. When the final targets were thrown, Marker prevailed with 22 of 25, while Mos finished as runner-up.

But that afternoon was only one chapter in the remarkable careers of these two clay target legends.

Florence Mos

Florence Mos of Cincinnati was already a national champion by the time this photograph was taken. Two years earlier, at age 33, she captured the prestigious Women’s North American Clay Target Championship at the 1943 Grand American. After breaking an impressive 192 of 200 targets, she survived a pressure-filled shoot-off to claim the title.

Shooting was very much a family affair for Florence. Her father, Carl Mos, introduced her to trapshooting, and the two became a formidable father-and-daughter combination. At the 1942 Grand American, they teamed up to win the Father-and-Daughter Championship, crushing a combined 196 of 200 targets.

Florence developed a reputation for consistency and remarkable composure when championships were on the line. That ability was evident again in 1945 when she battled Marker target-for-target before ultimately finishing second.

Mrs. Van N. Marker

The story of Mrs. Van N. Marker’s entry into trapshooting begins with a tragedy that occurred years before she ever became a champion.

Her husband, Van N. Marker, was a prominent Chicago industrialist and co-founder of Revere Electric Supply. In October 1928, Van and his first wife, Jane, were involved in a devastating airplane crash near Chicago. Jane was killed in the accident. Van survived but suffered a severely broken jaw, while their 8-year-old daughter also survived.

When Van later remarried, the new Mrs. Van N. Marker entered a family whose life had already been profoundly changed by tragedy. Trapshooting was one of Van’s great passions, and she began shooting so the two could enjoy the sport together.

What started as a shared pastime soon became something neither could have anticipated.

Mrs. Marker proved to be an exceptional natural competitor. The couple practiced intensely at regional rod and gun clubs, and by the early 1940s she had developed into one of the leading women trapshooters in America.

In 1944, husband and wife captured the Grand American Husband-and-Wife Championship. Then came the memorable 1945 showdown with Florence Mos, when Marker prevailed in the shoot-off to claim the Grand American Ladies Championship.

Newspapers were fascinated by her, often portraying Marker as the unassuming “housewife” who could arrive at a tournament and proceed to outshoot many of the finest competitors in the country. Behind that image, however, was an intensely disciplined shooter with extraordinary concentration and stamina.

And she possessed remarkable staying power.

While many competitors eventually faded from championship contention, Marker continued winning for decades. In 1963, at age 57, she was still competing at the Grand American—and still capable of winning. At the 64th Grand American Trapshoot, she added yet another title to her extraordinary career by capturing the Veterans Championship.

The 1945 photograph therefore captured far more than two women walking away from a trap field. It captured two champions whose lives and paths to the firing line were very different, but who met that day as equals on one of the biggest stages in American trapshooting.

Steve Ellinger

09/06/2026

One lesson history has taught clay target clubs is this: never build next to an airport—because sooner or later, the airport may build around you. That is exactly what happened to Tampa’s Cigar City Gun Club. What began beside the open fields of Drew Field eventually found itself surrounded by runways, roads, offices, and commercial development.

I was recently reminded of this forgotten club when I came across a large, colorful Cigar City Gun Club patch. Shooters from the 1960s and 1970s may remember the name, but I knew relatively little about it. That patch sent me digging into the club’s past—and the story turned out to be an interesting chapter in Florida shooting history.

Established in the late 1930s, Cigar City occupied open land near Drew Field, which would eventually become Tampa International Airport. At the time, the area was largely undeveloped, offering the wide-open space necessary for trap and s***t fields.

By the 1960s and 1970s, Cigar City had become a well-known destination for competitive shooters. Major registered tournaments brought shooters to Tampa from across the country. These were substantial events, offering impressive trophies and prizes—including automobiles for some fortunate winners.

The club changed hands over the years and was later operated by John William Edenbo, who ran the facility from 1973 until around 1980. Unfortunately, by then Cigar City faced an opponent no shooter could defeat: Tampa’s rapid growth.

The airport was expanding, the Westshore business district was booming, and land once considered safely outside the city was becoming increasingly valuable. The open acreage required for trap and s***t shooting was quickly being consumed by roads, hotels, offices, and commercial development.

Around 1980, the Cigar City Gun Club disappeared.

What makes the story particularly interesting is what occupies the area today. The former shooting grounds are now part of Tampa’s heavily developed airport and Westshore corridor. Where shooters once stood on trap and s***t fields, the surrounding landscape is now filled with office buildings, hotels, parking areas, major roadways, airport-related facilities, and the commercial development associated with the Independence Park and Westshore area. Thousands of people pass through the vicinity every day with no idea that clay targets once sailed through the sky there.

A shooter returning to Cigar City after half a century would hardly recognize the place.

Its fate was hardly unique. Across America, countless gun clubs were originally established safely beyond city limits, only to watch neighborhoods, highways, airports, and businesses steadily advance toward them. Eventually, many were forced to close or relocate.

Fortunately, one small reminder of Cigar City survives.

The patch that started my investigation is now preserved and displayed at the ATA Hall of Fame and Museum in Sparta, Illinois—a colorful survivor from a Florida shooting club that once hosted some of the sport’s biggest competitions before a growing Tampa finally surrounded it.

Steve Ellinger

09/05/2026

It’s been a long 11 months, but your museum in San Antonio is just about 2.5 weeks away from opening its doors with a new wing, spaces, and exhibits! Our first of TWO Gala Openings is happening on September 30th! This article is in this months issue of Clay Target Nation!

09/04/2026

Don’t miss this chance to SEE history!

09/04/2026

Shown here is a rare team photo of the Yale Gun Club in 1928, later known as the Yale S***t and Trap Team, a dominant force in intercollegiate trap shooting during the early 20th century. The Yale Gun Club routinely won major competitions like the Intercollegiate Trap Shoot against rivals such as Harvard. Trap and s***t shooting was considered the “sport of gentlemen” in the Ivy League schools.

Members were from left:

Thomas Todd, attending as a Yale junior in 1928. He originally came to the university from Seattle, Washington. Following his time at Yale, he went on to graduate from Harvard Law School and built a highly distinguished career as a prominent Seattle attorney and an accomplished, regionally ranked competitive tennis player. Thomas Todd passed away on November 24, 1995, at the age of 86

Rowland B. Phillips, Jr. He was a key competitive shooter for the university. After his graduation in the Yale Class of 1930 and his high-profile 1931 marriage to Ruth Buckner, the daughter of Emory R. Buckner, a prominent former U.S. District Attorney, his life centered around New York society and his business career.

O. E. Stacy (team Captain) was a prominent member of the university's elite shooting roster.

Due to this major competitive victory, he was among a select group of athletes awarded university letters for his outstanding shooting performance in the spring of 1927.

John Stewart Trittle Jr. was another high-profile trap shooting athlete on the 1928 Yale team. Trittle Jr. made his mark on the trap team as well as excelling in track and fencing. He came from a highly distinguished family. His father, John Stewart Trittle Sr., was a famous industrialist who served as the President of Westinghouse Electric.

H. H. Clifford not only excelled at trap, but also in the arts. He was a featured musical performer for the university Glee Club. Clifford passed away on February 21, 1994, in Pasadena, California, at the age of 84

The Yale Gun Club established an unmatched dynasty in intercollegiate trap shooting during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, solidifying itself as one of the most dominant collegiate shooting programs in history. Yale completely dominated the annual Intercollegiate Trap Shoot. Most famously, capturing its 13th consecutive Intercollegiate Championship title, routinely forcing their rivals from Harvard to settle for second place.

Immediately prior to this photo, the Yale team had just defeated Harvard 201 to 198. No word on how team captain Stacy obtained his black eye.

Steve Ellinger

09/03/2026

Hope to see you tonight!

09/03/2026