Originally built and used by Coors® employees, the range is now a private archery club nestled against the foothills near Golden, Colorado. The Golden High Country Archers was formed to provide local archers with a place to shoot, foster and perpetuate a spirit of good fellowship, and promote good sportsmanship among its members.
Club History
The Golden High Country Archers archery club is located in the 63-acre Tony Grampsas Memorial Sports Complex near Golden Colorado. Originally built by the Coors® company for its employees, the park was donated to the City of Golden in 1999.
Included with three ball fields, a sand volleyball court, a horseshoe pit, a basketball gymnasium, a pavilion area, and a rough playground area, was an archery range. This range was home to the Table Mountain Archers. This club was exclusively made up of Coors® employees and, at the end of 1995, had 41 members. The company, however, closed the range in 1996 for undisclosed reasons. The club stayed together and would meet at a local archery shop to shoot together.
In early 2000, the former president of Table Mountain Archers, Robert Creed (Bear), received a phone call from the then parks Director, Charlie Fagen. Mr. Fagen simply asked if Bear would like the range back. Seizing the opportunity, Bear said yes, and made phone calls to those who he thought could help reopen the range. Among those were Brandon Powell, Emmett Moore, Bernie Kubistek, Terry Campbell, Howard Moore, Jack Jones, Dave Ramsey, Dick Szabo, Todd Mackey, and Don Pottruff. Elections were held, and Bear was elected president. Vice-president elect was Todd Mackey, Secretary-Treasurer was Bernie Kubistek, and Range Captain was Emmett Moore. Brandon Powell was the first official member of the club, as he paid at that first meeting.
Among the many stipulations that the City of Golden had for the use of the facility, was to get the range open by the dedication of the park in July of 2000. There were many things to do. First, a licensing agreement had to be negotiated and signed. Then there was insurance to obtain. The range had to be stocked with targets, and a sight-in range had to be constructed. Todd Mackey was instrumental in the licensing agreement, and got it done very quickly. The club used the old Table Mountain Archers accounts, and the old 3-D targets. Howard and Emmett built the first stands for the sight-in range. Several work parties were held to clean the range, set up the range, and re-pour the broken concrete shooting line on the sight-in range. Through much effort and hard work, the range was open for the dedication of the park.
But the work was just beginning. Even though the range had a long way to go, an organization still had to be built. On top of that, Todd was transferred from his job here to another state. At that time, Howard was appointed to take his place and began work on the structure of the organization. Meanwhile, Emmett, Terry, and other members were working on the range. By the end of 2000, the club had grown to 69 members. The club had a total income that year of $7,786.76.
The next few years saw the club membership grow steadily. In 2001, there were 100 members. In 2002, there were 138 members. The club continued to grow and has over 800 members. The club operations within a $100K budget, with the major costs being archery targets and grounds maintenance.
The structure of the club has changed as well. The Board of Directors, which manages the club, has 7 positions. Those positions are President, Vice-president, Secretary, Range Captain, Membership Director, Public Relations Director, and Treasurer.
The club is governed by a carefully constructed set of by-laws. These by-laws provide transparency between the board and members. The club is a registered 501-c-7 organization with the IRS and is required to file tax returns and comply with the rules for a non-profit organization.