Sports

Bethel Lutheran celebrates 20 years of archery

By Tyler Ohmann

04/02/2013

An archery club known as the Bethel Crossed Bows concluded their 20th season of archery activities last night.

The archery club was started two decades ago by Gabe Feland, an avid archer and member of Bethel Lutheran Church near Antler. Bethel Lutheran Church’s basement was conducive to having archery activities in it, so Feland rounded up other archery enthusiasts, and they put together the club and opened it to the community as “Bethel Crossed Bows.” The club has met every Monday night since from January through March.

In 2005 the club involved kids to peak their interest in the sport.

“Some of the guys started getting older and having families, and they asked if we could maybe get the kids involved,” said Steve Lauer, a Bethel Crossed Bows board member. “I thought, ‘this is never gonna work,’ but I said lets do it from grades one through high school, and we had 15 kids show up the first night.”

“It’s exciting to see the kids, and they always have a parent come with them, so it gets to be a family event,” Lauer added.

With the addition of the kids, Lauer believes that archery has really become a family activity.

“Besides getting kids off the street and giving them something to do, archery is a good sport and they it can be another family activity,” Lauer said. “There are many 3-D tournaments throughout the state and that can be fun getting them involved in something fun with their parents.”

However, the members of Bethel Lutheran Church aren’t the only ones practicing in the church basement. Folks from many nearby communities make the 15-25 people who participate on any given Monday night.

“It’s good to get other people included, and that’s why we open up our doors,” Lauer said. “With the church we want to encourage people with their spiritual walk with the Lord, and we’ve seen some good results over the years.”

Lauer said that people from communities such as Maxbass, Sherwood, Antler and Mohall have participated.

The original board who began the club 20 years ago included: Lauer, Gabe Feland, Terry Kissner, Ken Roed (stats). After Feland passed away a few years ago Gabe Thompson and Lynn Schmidt were added and Elaine Feland (Gabe’s wife) became the treasurer.

That board made the decision to not charge anyone, and the club runs off of donations.

“We don’t charge anything and if it wasn’t for the generosity of those attending, we probably wouldn’t be able to keep it running,” Lauer said. “We’re able to buy good 3-D targets and Genesis bows, so equipment is there for someone to try, and they don’t even have to have their own equipment.”

“It’s a good opportunity for someone to try the sport and see if they like it, with no investment,” Lauer said.

At their final shoot, Lauer said that awards are handed out and the archers have a pizza party afterward.

Anyone interested in checking out the Bethel Crossed Bows can contact Lauer at (701) 267-3694.