Father, Son Team It Up For Skeet Meets

Twenty-five dull pops, 25 shattered birdies.

Varsel Jarnagin drops his shotgun to his side without fanfare or sympathy for the orange and black remains at his feet.

“You can just eat so many ducks,” his dad, Frank, says, pushing two target loads into his shotgun. “That’s why we do this. Pull.”

A clay disk shoots into the air in front of him. Just as it nears the apex of its arc, Frank blasts it to bits. He smiles at Varsel, the boy he named after a hunting friend. “Guess we tied.”

It’s no small feat to tie Varsel at the skeet range. The Lake City High School junior annihilates so many clay birdies with his keen eye, he was picked for the All-American Junior Skeet Team this year.

“It takes a blank mind. That’s what I do best,” Varsel says, looking down the barrel of his shotgun. “I get messed up when I think too much about what I’m doing. Pull.”

A breath later, clay fragments rain over the field. Varsel turns to his dad.

“Don’t fall apart now,” he says, his Pink Floyd ballcap casting a shadow over his grin.

Varsel began skeet shooting three years ago to be with his dad, a Sunday league shooter. He quickly climbed up the ladder, becoming one of the best in his age group.

Now, Frank and Varsel shoot as a team. When Frank won a shotgun in a drawing, he gave his gun to Varsel. It was older, but a better gun.

They shoot at least one day a week at the skeet range and travel in their fifth-wheel trailer to meets throughout Idaho, Montana and Oregon.

Varsel doesn’t know where he’ll go with his skill.

“It’d be cool to be on the front cover of Skeet Magazine,” he says.

But wherever he goes, he knows his dad will be right there with him.

Toy town

Lake City High School’s Key Club, or Kiwanis Jr., became official last month with senior Christina Roots as its president. For its first project, the service club is collecting new and used educational toys for needy children in the community.

Here’s your chance to mold young minds. Take some puzzles and books to Lake City High and look for the Key Club boxes.

It’s the tooth

If you think Hallmark has a card for every occasion, you’re about to be disappointed. Last week, Dental Assistants Recognition Week slipped by with hardly a notice and nary a greeting card. My dentist, Geffrey Thompson, honored his wonderful staff by leaving town on vacation.

So, to all the overlooked and often-maligned dental assistants out there, a hearty, if belated, Scope toast.

Garage sale

Nothing says spring louder than the annual Home and Garden Show at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds this weekend. The North Idaho Building Contractors Association will sell all sorts of new building materials in a garage-sale format at the show.

If you’re not in the buying mode, go drool at the hot tubs, redwood decks and granite countertops. And if you go from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. Saturday, you’ll get in free. The show opens at noon today, and tickets cost $4 for adults, $3 for seniors. Children under 13 get in free.

Start your engines

I saw the dirtiest Jeep the other day. Dried mud was so thick, the Jeep looked like it was undergoing a beauty treatment. I wanted to know where it had been and how much fun someone had had in it.

What are the stories behind your battered trucks, filthy four-wheelers and faithful Fords? Any high-mileage boasts? This is your chance to brag about your car or truck and earn a “Close to Home” surprise for doing so.

Keep your car tales under 300 words and send photos if you have them. Truck ‘em over to Cynthia Taggart, “Close to Home,” 608 Northwest Blvd., Suite 200, Coeur d’Alene 83814; send a fax to 765-7149 or call 765-7128 and I’ll do the writing.