Gun show set for Upton

KateLynn Slaamot
NLJ Correspondent
 
The Upton Gun Club will be hosting its 21st annual Upton Gun Show on Saturday, Aug. 29, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, Aug. 30, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Upton Community Center. This fundraiser for the club will also offer lunch for sale both days, with pies available for purchase as well. Admission to the event is $5 per person, but children 12 years of age and younger are free when they come with an adult. 
Interested persons can browse, buy and trade firearms at the numerous vendors, according to Joy McNutt, secretary for the club. With many people in the area being avid hunters, the gun show is the perfect opportunity to look for a new hunting rifle. The gun show is also a social event, McNutt said, noting the many people who enjoy visiting amongst themselves. 
“This is something people appreciate,” McNutt said. The community enjoys the event, and the nonprofit club can raise money, so it’s a win-win, she added.
While the amount raised by the club varies year to year, depending on costs for renting the community center, the money goes toward keeping the indoor and outdoor shooting ranges running. The indoor one, in particular, needs heating and power and such. 
“It really helps pay for that,” McNutt said. 
The shooting ranges are important, McNutt said, because many youth groups such as 4-H, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, etc. use the ranges for their activities. The club strongly promotes youth shooting sports, as well as gun and hunting safety. Club members can also shoot at the ranges and teach their children how to properly handle firearms. 
“That’s why we have our range,” McNutt said.