The Peacemakers’ New-Cowboy Clinic was held today, May 31st, despite the brief, unforecast rain shower.  Five potential cowboys attended and were guided by four experienced cowboys:  Mackinaw Jack, Marshall RD, Arizona Buffalo Joe and Comstock Charley.  Thanks guys.   We’re hoping for a couple of new cowboy shooters this year.

Comstock Charley

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What a fun night at this year’s McLean County Peacemakers banquet.  We had 34 well-dressed cowboys and cowgirls join us!  Seeing that our club is active and flourishing makes this SASS cowboy and cowgirl experience so much more enjoyable. 

Before anything else, I want to say thank you to everyone who attended, volunteered, and supported this year’s banquet. Here’s a quick shout-out to those that helped make our banquet such a fun event:

Arizona Buffalo Joe for making all the arrangements at the Pizza Ranch.

Tomahawk Johnson and Katie Two-shots for gathering and organizing the very popular Door Prize event.

Dangerous Dan McGrew and Lady Lou for the fun entertainment activities.  They put a lot of time on this and it shows!

Thanks again – your involvement is what made the evening truly special.

A few other items covered at the banquet include the election of club officers for the 2026 season.  It was a hotly contested race and we’re still counting mail-in ballots, but it looks like these are our winners:

Mackinaw Jack – President

Marshal RD – Vice President

Tomahawk Johnson – Treasurer

Comstock Charley – Secretary

Dangerous Dan McGrew – Webmaster

Arizona Buffalo Joe – At Large Director

Sherrif Boo-Boo Bottom – At Large Director

Congratulations and thanks for all the work you put in.

Tomahawk gave the Treasurer’s report and shared that we have $1,187 in the bank and all our bills are paid.

In addition to the election, we covered the following topics for the upcoming 2026 season:

At the September match, we’ll be celebrating Ron and Sue Darnall’s 60th anniversary!  There will be food and “special” prizes.  Congratulations Ron and Sue.

In addition to our regular monthly cowboy matches, there will be three Wild Bunch matches and two Quigley matches.  Check the Peacemaker flyer for dates.

Our June and July Cowboy matches will be held on the second Saturday of the month instead of the usual third Saturday, to accommodate the Illinois State Championship match and the Beloit Reckoning-on-the-Rock match.

Finally, we will be having a new Cowboy shooter clinic on May 31st, so spread the word.  A flyer with details will be available soon.

So until next time, keep your powder dry, boots ready, your hats close by, and we’ll see you at Darnalls for some lively Cowboy fun.

Mackinaw Jack

Merry Christmas to all Peacemakers. Our December 20 match will be indoors, so no shotguns, black powder or carts. Arizona Buffalo Joe has written 5 stages which are linked below. Feel free to decorate your outfit for Christmas (within reason). Registration at 8:15 a.m. Shoot starts after 8:50 a.m. safety meeting.

The club officers met last Monday. The meeting minutes and the 2026 schedule are linked. Highlights: March 14 will be the annual club banquet at Pizza Ranch in Bloomington. There will be three Wild Bunch and two Quigley matches this year. The June and July cowboy matches will be one week earlier to avoid conflict with the Beloit Reckoning on the Rock Match and the Milan Illinois State Match. A “new shooter” clinic is planned for May 31.

Meeting Minutes

2026 Schedule

There are SASS rule changes coming for both Cowboy and Wild Bunch matches, also linked below. They will be published in the 2026 Shooter’s Handbook January editions.

Rule Changes – Cowboy

Rule Changes – Wild Bunch

A Peacemaker member for 11 years has passed on to the big roundup. Johnny Whitehawk, aka Leland Pirtle, hadn’t shot for a couple of years, but many of us knew him. He repaired and welded many of the target stands for the club. He will be missed.

Arizona Buffalo Joe and Tomahawk Johnson built new steps for the McLean County Mercantile Prop Tuesday the 9th. Joe’s heated shop worked out excellently.

Comstock Charley