George was involved in the construction of the current range office and subsequently the 2 nd floor office. That range office replaced a shed that was used by a volunteer/member cashier. In 1989, George succeeded Ollie Owens as Club President.
George served as President of MGC in 1989 & 1990.
Ollie served as President of MGC in 1987 & 1988.
Charlie Bover was born in Vermont; best known for its Maple Syrup, which probably explains his voracious need for conversation. He and his wife Terry live in Mira Mesa.
He joined the Navy in 1952 following graduation from high school and after a distinguished career in Aviation Ordinance retired in 1982 as a Sr. Chief Petty Officer. He settled in San Diego following his retirement from the Navy. During his service he was a member of the Navy’s Rifle & Pistol Team winning a number of awards including the prestigious Daniel Boone award at Camp Perry.
Charlie joined SDSSA in 1999 and is an avid Trapshooter in addition to competing in various Skeet activities.
In 2006 he reached the 27 yard line in Handicap; a prestigious accomplishment in American Trap. His constant and meticulous practicing as well as his very technical approach to reloading was his recipe for getting him to that yardage.
Charlie can be found all day Tuesday and Thursday morning until noon; at the range busy working on various items requiring installation, modification or repair under the watchful eyes of Malcum Campbell. Malcum says that this person quits at least once a week, has been fired a number of times by Malcum but continues to show up and work. Bitching & moaning are 2 of his strongest traits say Malcum. Malcum is also quick to say that he doesn’t know how we’d get along without this person’s volunteer work.
Charlie readily volunteers his time working and supporting our Association.
It is for these reasons that our Board of Directors selected Charles Bover to receive the 2007 Honorary Life Member Award.
Neil was born in San Francisco in 1934. Soon after, his family moved to Everest, WA. At that time his step-father was in the lumber business.
In 1950 the Vann family moved again to N. Dakota where Neil completed high school. In high school he was active in sports, especially track and football. It was in North Dakota that Neil became active in hunting. (What else could you do in ND?)
He moved to San Diego in 1954 and continued his education at night school. Neil and wife Barbara were married in 1957.
He earned his engineering credentials while working in the aerospace industry at a variety of companies including Rohr, Boeing, Aerojet General, Hughes Helicopter and Hughes MacDonald Boeing. He worked at the latter firm from 1977-1999 and spent 1992-1998 based in Arizona. He returned to San Diego in 1998 and retired in 1999.
He became interested in skeet as a dove hunter and was active with Vern Gideon at the old Winchester range at Otay Lakes. He became an early member of Miramar Gun Club and served as its president in 1980.
During Neil’s absence in Arizona the skeet program at Miramar declined and only 3000-4000 registered targets were thrown. Upon Neil’s return to San Diego in 1998 he resumed skeet shooting and soon became skeet chairman. He turned the program around through hard work, ingenuity and his own leadership and personal charisma. He expanded the program by finding donors and sponsors for shoots and awards; initiated volunteer lunches, founded a skeet newsletter and featured more and larger skeet competitions. We now have three major competitions each year—the Grey Silva in September, the Pacific Sporting Arms and the SoCal in May. In just five years the program expanded to 29,000 registered targets each year.
Neil was elected to the presidency of SDSSA in both 2003 and 2004. He led the association in accomplishing improvements to the range including a new and much needed clubhouse. Under his leadership our shooting fields were upgraded. International/Olympic trap/bunker, which like the skeet program had declined, was rebuilt, expanded and is now one of the top programs in the country. He set up a building and grounds program which included handicap access. He also promoted an active handicap-shooting program.
On the personal level, Neil has been a dedicated skeet competitor at the A and AA level and in 2002 was honored by being made a member of the California Skeet Shooting Association Hall of Fame. In 2005 he completed shooting 300,000 registered targets and is now (January 2006) 8th in the world in lifetime NSSA registered targets.
During the next 10 years he served as: director 1979 - 1981, vice president 1981, president 1982 & 1983, director 1984, president 1985 & 1986 and director 1987 & 1988. In 1992, following the dismissal of the range manager, Harvey was asked by the club president to step in and take on the full time range manager's position. He accepted and served in that capacity from 1992 to 1996. Harvey also became very involved with the club's registered trap program. in 1981 he became the trap chair and moved the program from 4 shoots a year to a 2-day registered shoot every month. Attendance increased from an average of 4 squads a shoot to over 12 squads. He selected George Harbaugh to succeed him as trap chair and the program continued to increase in popularity. Harvey stepped in to become trap chair again in 2001 & 2002.
In the early 80's he established a 50 bird Wednesday ATA registered shoot that grew in popularity. The increased trap activity brought in many new members in addition to the primary source of revenue for the club. During his involvement we constructed, a range office replacing a wooden shed, a 2nd floor office, trap overlays on 4 fields bringing the total trap ields to 8, 2 olympic layouts on 11 & 12, shade canopies and picnic tables and rv hookups with water & electricity. Other significant contributions included, replacing a cigar box with a modern day cash register, introducing P&L reports with a computer thanks to the assistance of Glen & Karen Gregory, hiring the 1st paid manager and the hiring of a CPA to examine our financial record keeping.
His first job was with a San Diego industry that sadly has disappeared from America's Finest City. Before it disappeared he joined the construction industry where he convinced himself that having his own business would be the ticket to success. And successful it was and still is. Successful enough that over the years he has helped with improving our facility and supporting programs to the benefit of all. He never refused a request for help and even volunteered assistance when not asked. He's a regular at skeet but can also be found on the trap fields. He drives a vehicle most people recognize when he comes to the range.
Our recipient is married and has 4 children and many people have difficulty spelling his last name. A few years back he took an entire table at our annual meeting and filled it with his family. By now a few of you might have narrowed it down to someone you know. Just a bit more info before I name him. A fellow skeet shooter and friend wrote, "He has always been very generous. Before he started providing actual trophies, he fed a lot of shooters. This is not just paying the catering bill: Many times his lovely wife and daughters would prepare and serve wonderful homemade feasts. Some of her desserts were to die for." A number of years ago we had a member who painted the club "at cost" which was a good deal at the time. However along came our recipient who offered to do future work for free -- donating labor and materials.
Enough hints. By the way, his wife's name is Mary and his first job with a San Diego industry that sadly has disappeared from America's Finest City was the tuna industry. Pete Buompensiero, please come forward so that we can all share in this honor to you.
