It’s been a while since I’ve posted, but I received news today that my first archery coach died. A flood of memories came back to me and I had to put down my thoughts before they escaped.

Denny Koerner and his mom Viola (Vy) were as responsible for instilling the love of the sport in me, as anyone. Vy was the matriarch and ran the ship at Midway Archery, in Menasha, Wisconsin. Denny, her son, taught archery and ran the business along side his mom. They were quite a duo. Vy came across as stern, but had a heart of gold. Denny was always in a good mood and kept his customers and friends engaged and happy. I recall Vy keeping me on the books at Midway Archery, as I bought equipment I couldn’t quite afford. Both Vy and Denny would let me shoot at the range for hours ‘on the house’.

I recall the first day I walked into the range. My brother and I received fiberglass bows as presents and we were going to the archery range to show off our prowess. Denny had to be shaking his head as he was showing us the ropes. He put one of the shop bows in our hands instead of the department store toys we had. He then gave us some rudimentary instruction and we were off and running. Vince, my brother, really wasn’t smitten by the sport, but I was all in. I went to the range as often as I could. Denny gave me lessons and shortly after, I bought a target bow. In those days, target archery was extremely popular. Before you knew it, I was shooting in multiple leagues and getting pretty good at it. I went to competitions and continued to improve.

But archery was changing rapidly. The advent of the compound bow created all kinds of turmoil in the sport, as did the creation of the 3-D round. Very quickly, target archery waned, as many archers were able to become competent with a compound bow more quickly than with a recurve bow and heck, you only needed to shoot one arrow in the 3-D round.

The truth be told, I changed quite a bit as well. I was at the age where wine, women and wheels got the lions share of attention. The compound bow was not as much fun for me and I drifted away from the sport.

Through it all, Denny and Vy were always encouraging and every time I went into the shop I was always treated like family. I’ll always remember the kindness extended and the special place Midway Archery was for me.

While Denny may no longer be with us, his legacy continues, as others, like me, carry forward with the knowledge he passed along. So long Denny.