Lyndeborough woman perseveres to earn Appleseed Rifleman patch

Thursday, January 12, 2012

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Cindy Ginn, of Peterborough, is congratulated by event boss John Barnes for earning her rifleman badge.

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Kathy Cleveland photos Not long after a truck went into a marsh off Wood Lane in Hollis, rescue crews were called to South Merrimack Road where a pickup truck crashed into a tree. The driver appeared to be treated at the scene.

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Courtesy photo
Cindy Ginn, of Peterborough, is congratulated by event boss John Barnes for earning her rifleman badge.

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PETERBOROUGH – Cindy Ginn, possibly the most persistent Appleseeder of all time, recently earned her rifleman patch. Overcoming equipment and ammunition problems that have plagued her for no less than nine Appleseed events, Ginn bounced up an amazing 17 points to score 219 on the last Army Qualification Target of the event. When the AQT was scored, the crowd went wild. There were hugs and tears in abundance. The emotion was palpable.

The Appleseed Project, a charitable organization, holds events all over the country that teach Revolutionary War history and rifle marksmanship. Participants who score 210 or better earn a rifleman patch, which is the equivalent of the U. S. Army’s top expert rating.

Ginn, 64, is a resident of Lyndeborough and a grandmother of six. After being threatened by a man with a gun at the pharmacy she manages, Ginn courageously foiled the attempt with pure chutzpah, not having trained yet with her concealed-carry sidearm.

“Standing up to evil felt good,” she said. “Now I am trained in several pistols and rifles.”

“I first heard about Appleseed from a couple that I met in Ohio at the Medical Corps three-day training classes. A lot of great like-minded people from all over the country attend Appleseeds, learning valuable skills.”

The Appleseed Project holds two-day rifle marksmanship clinics all over the country. What makes Appleseed different from other firearms education programs is that while learning how to shoot their rifles, students are also learning valuable lessons from the Revolutionary War, when marksmanship met history and the heritage began. Americans are reminded that a whole generation of our founders sacrificed to pass on to posterity a free country, as Benjamin Franklin quipped, “If you can keep it.”

Appleseed seeks to reconnect Americans with this heritage and the need to exercise our rights peacefully through the democratic process.

It has been a long, hard road to rifleman for Ginn, much longer than usual.

“About 18 months ago was the first time that I had a rifle in my hands. It was love at first sight,” Ginn said.

Most Appleseeders who earn their Rifleman patch do so in three Appleseeds or less.

Ginn said coming back to Appleseed was important to her.

“I really liked meeting like-minded people, and I consider our Second Amendment rights to be the most important issue in America today,” she said. “I truly identified with the whole Appleseed concept of getting Americans off the couch and back to our roots as a nation of riflemen. I only wish that I had grown up in a family that trained with guns. I started late in life, and it was hard to catch up. I love to watch “I Like Guns” by Steve Lee on YouTube. I guarantee it will make you happy.”

Cindy’s struggle

Her ninth Appleseed was supposed to be three weeks prior to this Peterborough event. However, on that Sunday she was admitted to the hospital with severe sciatic pain due to a lumbar disc fragment. After three weeks of pain and boredom, she was determined to go to the Appleseed Event in Peterborough.

Showing up at the Appleseed event in Peterborough in pain, Ginn had on an adjustable back brace to help with the getting up and down. Yet in the tradition of the American rifleman, she persisted. Louise, her faithful friend, helped by going down to the targets and relaying shot information.

Upon seeing the back brace, the Appleseed instructor staff girded themselves for another failed attempt.

When the ammo misfeeds began to happen again, the event boss walked over to the Smithy counter and picked up a box of round-tipped cartridges. He then waited for the next malfunction. Miraculously, it never happened.

Seeing that Cindy was almost overwhelmed with the pressure – in more ways than one – the event boss said, “Cindy, remember the rifleman’s bubble?” The rifleman’s bubble is a “magical” place where the outside world goes away. When a rifleman is totally in the bubble, focus on the shot is the only thing that exists. Hot brass, beestings, any kind of pain or distraction whatsoever just goes away.

Another AQT passed. Ginn scored a 202. The dejection began to set in. There was time for only one more AQT, and Cindy was growing visibly angry with frustration.

The event boss was showing it too. In a fit of exasperation, he yelled, “Cindy, I want to you to channel your anger. At the target. That target is your personal enemy. Think what it’s doing to you! Shoot that [darn] thing!”

And darned if she didn’t!

Through her perspicacity, Ginn taught her group a valuable lesson. No matter how frustrated, depleted or finished one feels, there is always a little bit more. Never give up.

For more information about Project Appleseed, visit www.appleseedusa.org or contact John Barnes, Appleseed’s New Hampshire state coordinator, at 1-888-221-8628 or nh@appleseedinfo.org.