Club History

Emerald Empire Gun Club

36111 McGowan Creek Road, Springfield, OR 97478

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(541) 747-6666

P.O. Box 1225, Springfield, OR 97477

Proper eye and ear protection are required for everyone on EEGC property.

Both can be purchased at the clubhouse

by the public range or you can bring your own.

Prescription lenses will usually fill the requirement for eye protection.

Please see our Range Safety Officers for more details.

ACTIONS OPEN - UNLOADED - POINTED UP

PUBLIC RANGE HOURS AND FEES - WINTER HOURS

Our public shooting range is open from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday during the Winter and Spring months unless otherwise posted. Fees for the public range are:

$10 per person age 14 and older per day.

$2 per youth (under age 14) per day.

Active duty military, National Guard, reserves free with valid military identification.

Compiled from the River Road Park & Recreation District

scrapbook of newspaper clippings and other resources.

On September 17, 1951 Dorothy Fuller was appointed chairperson of the River Road Parks

& Recreation Committee. Ms. Fuller spent many hours compiling surveys, attending public

meetings, and promoting the formation of the River Road Parks & Recreation District.

On February 2, 1952 Dorothy Fuller spoke to area civic group regarding plans for a

recreation park for the River Road area.

On September 22, 1952 a special election was held and the citizens of the River Road district approved the formation of a Park District by a vote of 129 to 93. In this same election, the following members were voted onto the original River Road Park District board:

Dr. Leland Stauffer - President

J. Normal Bennett

Lloyd A. Gubrud

Carl T. Veltman

Dorothy A. Fuller

In 1953 Dorothy Fuller was named Secretary of the Park Board. From 1953 to 1955 the recreation activities consisted mainly of a Summer Program at the River Road Elementary School under the guidance of a part time recreation director and staff.

In January of 1954 the Park District purchased nine and one-half acres of park land and a cottage at 1400 Lake Drive in Eugene, Oregon from Mr. & Mrs. Ervin Nelson for the sum of $25,000.

On February 15, 1954, the Park property on Lake Drive was named “Emerald Park.”

The name was chosen in a grade school contest. A third grader at Howard School,

Judy Ann Frank, won the $50 defense bond prize for submitting the winning name.

On June 5, 1955 a dedication is held for Emerald Park. Dr. William c. Jones of the University of Oregon gave the dedication address.

On January 4, 1956 a newspaper clipping mentions Park District Rifle Club.

On January 9, 1956 Dorothy Fuller was chosen as Park Board President.

(Dorothy Fuller-Loney will re-appear in our club history. A clipping says of her:

“..through whose efforts the park district was originally formed”.)

In 1960 the Park District held archery classes.

An archery tournament in 1961 had 48 youth participants.

In 1962 the Park District holds rifle safety classes

through its sponsorship of the “Emerald Gun Club”:

In 1964 the Park District announced a summer rifle safety program.

On September 14, 1964 Arnold Miller lead rifle safety classes:

1964 clipping invitation:

On January 11, 1965 there was a gun club organizational meeting:

The Emerald Park Gun Club was formed shortly thereafter. The original bylaws can by viewed by clicking here. You can view a list of the charter members by clicking here.

On August 21, 1965 the Emerald Park Gun Club performed a skit from 4:15-4:30 p.m. at River Road Park District 10th Anniversary. That must have been a sight.

On May 20, 1966 Willamette Industries Inc. transferred (donated) the deed for the McGowan Creek property to River Road Park and Recreation District.

On June 20, 1966 the Park District Day Camps began at McGowan Creek.

On August 6, 1966 Arnold Miller gave a shooting exhibition for the Emerald Park Gun Club at River Road Park Jamboree. (This is where LtC Miller split a playing card edgewise with an air pistol pellet).

In 1967 the range fee was $1.00 per day. You can read a copy of the original range rules

by clicking here. You can read an article from September 16, 1967 in the Register Guard

about how construction has started on the pistol range and the ‘running deer’ range. The

article has two interesting pictures of the public range.

In 1968 a ‘Name the Park’ contest was open to district students grades 4-6 to

name the park at McGowan Creek.

Below is the front and back of our early handout:

On February 16, 1968 the ‘Name the park’ winner was announced. Chairman of the Board

Dorothy Fuller awarded the student for the winning name – “McGowan Creek Recreation Park.”

In 1968 the Rifle Range was open to the public:

In 1969 and 1970, the EEGC Junior shooter team used the Moose Range:

After the Moose Range was torn down the Junior shooters used an old range south of Junction City. After that range was closed the Junior team was without an indoor range to shoot at until our indoor range was completed in the mid 1970’s.

On July 10, 1973 Emerald Empire Gun Club, Inc. filed paperwork with the

State of Oregon to become a nonprofit corporation. You can read the original bylaws

for the Emerald Empire Gun Club from 1973 by clicking here.

In 1977 Willamette Industries deeded a small adjoining parcel of land to our club

for expansion of our 200 yard shooting range.

On October 22, 1979 the River Road Park District deeded the range property to our club

with certain use restrictions.

In 1980, two junior shooters, Matt and Will, travel to the NRA’s rifle and pistol championships at

Camp Perry in Ohio to compete. The two 12 year olds placed third in the expert class

and 15th in the overall competition. They were coached by Emmett O’Connor.

Click here to read the newspaper article .

The cost of shooting on the public range was $2 per person in 1987.

You can see one of our early posters for Sighting-In Days by clicking here.

In the summers of 1990, 1991, and 1992 our club hosted a summer biathlon, which is an event

in which competitors run for a total of 5,000 meters and stop twice for .22 shooting competitions. Typically there were fifty to sixty competitors in the events, which were part of the Kingsbury

Summer Biathalon Event, officially sanctioned by the United States Biathlon Association.

You can read the 1990 flyer by clicking here.

In 1992 club dues were $17.00, NRA dues were $23.00, and the work bond was $25.00.

On March 23, 1995 the Articles of Incorporation were amended to make the club a

501(c)4 non-profit corporation, commonly known as a ‘civic welfare’ corporation devoted

to recreational purposes. Donations to 501(c)4 corporations like ours are not tax

deductible but the club does not have to pay certain types of taxes.

In 2001 the club purchased 14.6 acres from Willamette Industries on the hillside

behind the range property.

In 2009 a minor electrical fire occurred in our clubhouse near the restrooms. While the repairs

were being made, the club used the opportunity to update the inside of our clubhouse.

In May of 2012 work began on a major upgrade of our public range: