Sportsman’s Club sets sights on another 80 years
September 30th, 2009 by tristan baurick
The Bainbridge Island’s 80-year-old Sportsman’s Club may seem like a place locked in the island’s past, but a lot’s going on these days.
Thanks to the efforts of vice president Steve Korn, the club has seen a recent flood of grant dollars to improve safety, expand the pistol range to accommodate increasing use by Bainbridge police, build a new archery range and fix an old clubhouse where islanders have gathered for the better part of a century.
“A lot of what this club does dates back to a different time, but it’s always been a cross-section of Bainbridge,” Korn told me for a recent story about the club. “It’s one of the few places where everyone can gather.”
Recognizing the club’s place in Bainbridge history, the city Historical Preservation Commission recently gave unanimous approval for its inclusion in the local register of historic places.
One thing that struck me while hanging out during the retiree’s trap shoot on Friday was that the topics of discussion between the members didn’t touch upon guns or gun issues all that much. Mostly they talk about failing body parts, old friends, dead friends, the weather and the club itself. They’re proud of it, and the role it serves in the community – from hosting holiday dinners for seniors to fishing derbies for kids.
Our video of the trap shoot and a tour of the clubhouse is below.
Below is the city’s draft recommendation for the club’s inclusion on the historic registry. It includes a history of the club and notes on the clubhouse’s architectural significance.
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October 5th, 2009 at 4:19 pm
Not everyone is so enamored with the gun club. If you live within gunshot (no pun intended), the noise pollution is enough to make you think about moving off of Bainbridge Island. Perhaps the gentry should really get involved in the community and put the gun club underground so no one else in the community has to listen to the sound of shotguns.
October 5th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
I worked for a neighbor of Sportsmans Club last year who has lived there for more than 25 years, and he said it has never bothered him or any of his pets. He thought it sounded like freedom. What does bother him and his pets are the illegal fireworks that plague the community every year. I agree with the neighbor on this one. The gun club has been there longer than any neighbor around, and I’d like to wish them well in the next 80 years.