There was little of the Windamere Regional Shooting Complex left untouched by the colour pink with Mudgee Sporting Clays hosting a mighty successful fundraiser for 2019's installment of Pink Up Mudgee last weekend.
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While it was the club's first attempt at fundraising for Pink Up, it sure was a successful one and Pink Up Mudgee founder Hugh Bateman says he couldn't be more thrilled with the result.
"I was very pleased that they were going to do something, but little did I know that they were going to raise $4,000," he said.
I'm overwhelmed by the funds they have raised but when you see all of the people involved, you can understand how they could do it.
- Pink Up Mudgee founder, Hugh Bateman
Bateman himself had his first attempt at clay shooting with a rather well rehearsed teacher at hand, and Olympic gold medalist Suzy Balogh's insights certainly paid off.
"She [Suzy] had given me some tips on it because I had never shot clay before, and I got three out of four on the first station," he said.
"I went and could see the comradeship, it was a real eye opener for me, it was just an incredible afternoon.
"I think the Mudgee Clay shooters are one of the best kept secrets in the Mudgee region. It's just absolutely amazing out there."
The two day event not only raised funds by traditional methods, but also with the implementation of 'fines' for shooters.
"We've run charity events before but only every couple of years, but when we do it, we try to do it correctly, we put a lot of thought into it," Mudgee Sporting Clays club treasurer Ross Christian said.
We had particular stations where there was a slow rabbit and if you missed it on the first barrell you paid a fine of two dollars, if you swore because you missed it you paid a fine, we made over $500 just in fines.
- Mudgee Sporting Clays club treasurer, Ross Christian
"We have had some really good sponsors too. We gave away probably $3,000 plus in prizes and the sponsors donated nearly all of that.
"It was just a good fun weekend."
Christian says to have had 48 non licensed shooters attend the event in addition to the other shooters was a shocking result, and adds that it is likely the club will hold another Pink Up event in a couple years time.
"That's a pretty big number to come from Mudgee for one day," he said.
"We will do another one, it might be every second year depending on the funding we get but we will definitely be doing it again."