The 2023 Tunnel of Trees Side x Side Tournament is Canceled
This is happening for a variety of reasons.
The same Planning Committee has prepared and conducted the Tunnel of Trees Side x Side Tournament for the past seven years. The Committee is tired! Many committee members have aged–out of the heavy–duty activities involved in planning, setting up, conducting and tearing down the tournament event. Every year there have been complaints from our club membership that the club has been essentially closed for regular shooting activities for a week prior to the tournament because of the preparations and after for the clean–up involved. We reached out to the club membership seeking younger, fresher members to take over the responsibilities of the tournament but we have been unable to find interested volunteers.
On a more positive note, new projects at the club are causing conflicts with the timing of the tournament. Because of northern Michigan weather, three of these projects have a delayed start time due to snow, ice and messy weather.
- The Emmet County Sportsmens Club clubhouse is undergoing a much–needed refurbishment. Work is underway but there’s still a fair amount still to be done.
- The Hunter’s Clays course trail is going to be reconditioned and a few changes are being added.
- The Hunter’s Clays course is going to be enlarged from 12 stations to 14 stations.
- Four new premium shooting stands are going to be added to the Hunter’s Clays course (two to existing stations and two to the new stations).
And finally, a huge thank you to our sponsors MEC Outdoors, Fieldsports Ltd (Bryan Bilinski) and Joe’s Clays (Joe Schmatz) and to our volunteers. These sponsors helped make the Tunnel of Trees a success. And last but not least, nothing would have been possible without our wonderful volunteers and it is our sincere wish that they continue to support the ECSC in future endeavors.
We will miss all of you very much. The club will remain open while the project work is being done. If you’re in the area and wish to shoot at the club, we welcome you. Please check the emmetcountysportsmensclub.com website for open hours as these are subject to change to accommodate the project work and weather conditions.
Thank you for your understanding.
The Tunnel of Trees Side x Side Tournament Planning Committee