Pistol club honours its founder
SPORT
There was no shortage of fanfare at a weekend event to celebrate and dedicate the opening of the FNQ Sport & Pistol Club’s new Air pistol Range to club founder and stalwart Jo Dau.
Mareeba Shire Mayor Angela Toppin highlighted the pride that council has for community and sporting clubs and the important role they play in keeping in touch with their members.
“This is especially true in these tough COVID-19 affected times. I also have admiration for the club’s goals of promoting the sport towards a wide scope of members and skill levels,” she said.
The FNQ Sport & Pistol Club was founded in the early 1990’s. Jo Dau and her late husband Ron Dau were part of the original members, and were heavily involved in the setting up and development of the club over the past 30 years.
Several years ago, the club decided to extend the club’s facilities by proposing to build an indoor air pistol range, which would extend the matches that could be shot at the club, and allow members to continue shooting while the wet season and heat might restrict activities during periods of tropical weather.
The club was very lucky to have had a wide variety of members with the knowledge and skills to assist with the project, from building design, plumbing & construction, concreting, general labour and technical knowledge of range requirements.
The club was also successful in obtaining funding and financial support from several organisations to allow this project to move to a successful completion, these organisations including:
- Community Gaming Benefit Fund
- Zammataro Plumbing
- Mareeba Shire Council
- National Hotel – Mt Molloy
- Mt Emerald Windfarm Community Grant Program
- Ironbark Holdings Pty Ltd
- Individual donations and business support from members
The Range has been named after Jo and Ron, in what is a fitting recognition of the hard work and dedication they have shown over the years for the sport that means so much to them.
Anyone interested in experiencing the joys and challenges of Target Pistol shooting at the Mt Molloy Club, are more than welcome and are requested to make contact with the club secretary Jo Dau on 4098 1276 or Club President Andy Ruddock on 0408 426 544.