Final Notice: Annual Club Christmas Dinner – 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec 2 – RSVP Requested

It’s almost time for our Annual Christmas Dinner. Come and help us celebrate the unique bonds we all share as we get ready to say goodbye to 2023 and welcome in 2024. Merry Christmas!

As we’ve done these past two years, we are holding our Christmas dinner at Trattoria Tiramisu in Bettendorf, IA, and we are being welcomed back with open arms. Perhaps the best news is that the restaurant is allowing us to reserve the entire right side of the restaurant for our exclusive use. This means we will have a selection of booths and tables from which to select and will have plenty of room to mingle about.

The dinner is scheduled for 5:30 p.m., Saturday, December 2, 2023.

The dinner will consist of a prix-fixe menu which will include a salad, a selection of entrees, and a desert, all at the very reasonable price of $17.95 per person, plus gratuity and tax. Of course, The club will provide some pre-dinner appetizers.

Trattoria Tiramisu is located at 1804 State St, Bettendorf, IA. If you’re traveling from Illinois to Iowa on I-74, take the first exit on the Iowa side of the bridge, then turn right onto State Street. If you are travelling from Iowa towards Illinois on I-74 take the Grant Street exit and turn left onto State Street. The restaurant is just a few blocks up State Street at the corner of State and 18th Street.

Details:
Trattoria Tiramisu
1804 State Street, Bettendorf, IA
5:30 p.m., Saturday, December 2, 2023

RSVP Requested
The restaurant would like us to provide them with an approximate head count the week leading up to the dinner. Please RSVP by completing the form below or emailing us the information by clicking here.

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# Attending

Give your favorite Cowboy or Cowgirl a Christmas Gift to Remember: The SASS 2024 Illinois State Championship

Give your favorite Cowboy or Cowgirl a gift they’ll remember – an entry to the SASS 2024 Illinois State Championship scheduled for August 16-18, 2024.  

Illowa Irregulars will create and send the following gift card for you to give them on Christmas morning, complete with their Alias.  And, as an additional gift, every Christmas gift registration recipient will receive one free lottery ticket in their shooters packet upon check in.

To ensure we have enough time to process your request, all Christmas gift registrations must be received on or before December 10th, so don’t delay. If it gets close, we encourage you to use the Online Registration form (see below).

If you would like to give this as a gift, please follow these steps:

  1. Click here to view/submit the Online Registration form or Click here to download the Paper Registration form. 
  2. Complete and submit the registration form per its instructions
  3. Send an email to Illowa Irregulars alerting us to the registration by clicking here and letting us know you are submitting a gift registration and if you are using the paper or electronic registration form.
  4. Include the Alias of the gift recipient as well as the name and address to whom we should send the Christmas gift card.
  5. If you don’t know the “posse with” or category info we can complete that information later – we will keep your place in the order the original registration was received.

Click here for more information on the 2024 Illinois State Championship.

Ho Ho Ho, Merry Christmas, from Santa and his band of Illowa Irregular elves.

SASS 2024 Illinois State Championship Registration is Now Officially Open

Illowa Irregulars are pleased to announce that registration for the SASS 2024 Illinois State Cowboy Action Shooting Championship, scheduled for August 16-18, 2024, is now officially open. 

3 days of cowboy action shooting fun, a free Friday night pizza party, free Side and Warm-up matches on Friday, an optional Riverboat dinner Cruise on the Mississippi River aboard the Celebration Belle, and an outstanding Awards Banquet at the air-conditioned Milan Community Center.  We will also be setting up the State Record Stage as part of the main match, and using it to establish Illinois and Club records.  The State Record Stage layout is available on our website – www.illowairregulars.com

Click here to view/submit the Online Registration form, or
Click here to download the Paper Registration form.   

You can also visit www.illowairregulars.com and click on the State Championship link at the top of the page.

Claim a free raffle ticket:  As a small incentive encouraging you to send in your registration early, all registrants submitting their registration by December 31, 2023, will receive one free raffle ticket in their shooter packet as a thank-you for registering early.  Registrations must be postmarked on or before December 31, 2023, to be eligible.

Match Theme:  We are planning a special theme for the 2024 Championship which we are calling “Illinois Against the World.”  It’s based on the border war concept in which cowboys from one state collectively compete against a neighboring state’s cowboys (i.e., across the border).  In this case, it’ll be Illinois shooters (collectively) against all shooters coming from the surrounding states and beyond.  In keeping with the theme, each stage description will contain an interesting and unique backstory about Illinois. 

Of course, it’s just for fun – the only thing the winning side receives is bragging rights.   

Dinner Cruise and Host Hotel Information:  Click here for information about Saturday evening’s Riverboat Dinner Cruise and how to make a reservation.  Click here for information about our Host Hotel.

Stage Sponsor:  If you would like to sponsor a stage click here and complete our new online Stage Sponsor form. 

Sponsor Packet:  If you are interested in becoming a Sponsor other than a Stage Sponsor, or would rather use the paper form to submit your stage sponsorship, please click here to download the Sponsor Packet.

International Shooters:  On a related note, we are making efforts to entice an international SASS shooter or two to join us, making it truly an “Illinois Against the World” border war.  We’re not holding my breath, but we’re going to give it a go. 

Thank-you for your interest, and we look forward to seeing you at the 2024 Illinois State Championship.  

Happy trails,

Popcorn Kelly and Count Sandor; Co-match Directors

Illowa Irregulars’ Annual Meeting Summary

Illowa Irregulars held our Annual Meeting Sunday, November 11, 2023.  The meeting’s purpose was to elect officers for 2024, review our accomplishments and challenges in 2023, and make plans for 2024. 

Officers:  All 2023 officers were reappointed to the same positions:  Territorial Governor, Count Sandor; President, Popcorn Kelly; Vice-president, Dolittle B Ernest; and, Communications, Popcorn Kelly. 

Territorial Governor’s Update: Count Sandor gave a Territorial Governors update which included the recent rules changes and some TG discussions. 

2024 Match Schedule:  The 2024 schedule was reviewed and approved with one change – the Iron Cowboy Match is rescheduled from January 20, 2024, to January 27, 2024. Setup will occur on the 26th

2024 Match Directors:  Match Directors for next year were assigned.  Thanks to everyone for volunteering.  See the list of 2024 Match Directors at the end of this post.

Illinois State Championship:  The Illinois State Championship was reviewed.  After discussion, the group decided to explore adding a Long-range Rifle Side Match on Friday.  Dolittle B Ernest will head up the project.  Stay tuned for more information.  We are exploring adding a cigar social to Friday night’s activities.

Post Monthly Match Teardowns:  After discussion, it was decided to continue tearing down the stages immediately after each monthly match instead of the next day.

Shotgun Targets:  Count Sandor and Dolittle B Ernest updated the group on their efforts to reduce splatter coming off of some of our shotgun targets.

ROI and ROII Courses: Popcorn Kelly discussed his efforts to schedule both RO courses in April, 2024. Stay tuned for more information.

Wild Bunch:  The group discussed the recent Wild Bunch rules changes, during which it became clear that the changes would have no material impact on how we run our WB matches since we already allow non-traditional WB guns to be used.  In terms of seeking official SASS WB affiliation status, after discussion, the group decided to maintain our non-SASS affiliated Wild Bunch status, but we would reconsider if a local Wild Bunch shooter obtains their WB TG certification.    

Christmas Party:  Our Annual Christmas party is scheduled for 5:30 p.m., Saturday, December 2 at Trattoria Tiramisu.  Please RSVP so we can get a head count for the restaurant.  Click here for more information and to RSVP.   Alternatively, you can simply send us an email with your name/Alias and how many people will be in your party. 

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2024 Illowa Irregulars Match Directors

  • April 21, 2024; Cowboy Match, Badlands Charlie
  • May 18, 2024; Buffalo Shoot,  Dolittle B Ernest
  • May 19, 2024; Cowboy Match, Chancy Shot
  • June 16, 2024; Cowboy Match, Wicker Nash, Log Splitter Chris
  • July 20, 2024; Wild Bunch,  Costa Rican Kidd, Justice James Newton
  • July 21, 2024; Cowboy Match, Rootin Tootin
  • July 28, 2024; Buffalo Shoot,  Doolittle B Ernest
  • August 16-18, 2024; Illinois State Championship, Count Sandor, Popcorn Kelly
  • September 14, 2024; Wild Bunch,  Costa Rican Kidd, Justice James Newton
  • September 15, 2024; Cowboy Match, Wicker Nash, Log Splitter Chris  
  • October 19, 2024; Buffalo Shoot,  Doolittle B Ernest
  • October 20, 2024; Cowboy Match, Chancy Shot
  • November 2, 2024;  Wild Bunch, Costa Rican Kidd, Justice James Newton
  • November 3, 2024; Cowboy Match, Badlands Charlie, Rootin Tootin
  • Iron Cowboy; Saturday, January 25, 2025, Dolittle B Ernest