MARTYN PONT, NATIVES RIFLE CLUB MEMBER – RIP
ADDRESS BY NATIVE’S CAPTAIN, JOHN MENZEL, TO GATHERED RIFLE SHOOTERS, BELMONT RIFLE RANGE – November 6th, 2021
Shooters, thanks for joining with us to remember Marty Pont. Welcome to Marty’s wife Kristy and family
A little over 12 months ago Marty was introduced to Natives by Andrew Mayfield from Ipswich Rifle Club who was training at a QRA Come and Try morning which Marty attended. Marty made us aware of his terminal illness and his desire to tick off a bucket list item of joining a rifle club. All the Natives welcomed Marty to the club and set about making his time with us as enjoyable as possible. It wasn’t long before the bucket list item was replaced with a genuine passion for the game we all love.
Whilst the members were always there for Marty he didn’t like a fuss. Instead he contributed to our membership and club culture in ways we probably wouldn’t have identified with had it not been for his burning desire to be an active member. One lasting legacy of his membership is that he made us look out for each other in ways we may not have in the past.
Right from the outset Marty was a man on a mission and I have to acknowledge Marty’s friend Matt Cecil who facilitated the acquisition of all Marty’s firearms. We have never seen such enthusiasm from one man to acquire so many firearms and discharge so many rounds. Time clearly wasn’t on Marty’s side but he became very active in club life assisting with range setup each week, competing in fixtures and assisting with building the club deck extensions. If ill health prevented him attending he was not a happy camper.
Whilst Marty was not with us for a long time he managed to touch all of the Natives and many outside the club as well. Through his passing we are diminished.
We will now fire the final shot for Marty and given it’s a fixture day we will have our youngest member Michael Ward coach Brett Clarkson.
After the shot we will have a minutes silence please.
(after the minute) Thanks everyone for attending.
