2013 NAHC Mentor of the Year Program

From John Clites, friend of Bob:

"I deem it an honor to nominate a fellow NAHC Life Member and friend, Mr. Robert Barnard, Jr., as a candidate for the 2013 NAHC Mentor of the Year award. Bob is married and has five children and 12 grandchildren.

"Along with those family members that Bob has mentored or instructed, he?s the organizational leader for his local 4-H sharpshooters program and an instructor at the annual 4-H camp events. For the Boy Scouts, Bob is is a Merit Badge counselor in rifle and shotgun training, and has been responsible for obtaining grant funding from the NRA for many youth shooting programs in the Cumberland, Maryland, area.

"I met Bob at one of our local sportsman's club's youth field days, where we both participated as instructors on the clay target range. After our introductions, we worked together with the less experienced shooters and those who?d never shot before. Since that event, Bob and I have worked numerous youth field day events together and have created a lot of smiles on the faces of those new to the shooting sports.

"Bob is a NRA Certified Range Safety Officer and holds NRA Certified Instructor credentials in rifle, shotgun, handgun, muzzleloader and archery disciplines, and utilizes these capabilities to assist/instruct/coach or mentor many youngsters each year. Bob is both an NRA and NAHC Life Member, a member of the Cumberland Bow Club, Kennells Mill Sportsmen's and Piney Mountain Sportsmen's Clubs, the Allegheny-Garrett County Sportsman's Association and many other organizations.

"Bob is the president of the Barrelville Outdoor Club (who hosts an annual charity shoot for underprivileged children), and he's been a great supporter of youth field day programs in Maryland, Pennsylvania and West Virginia for years. As I've worked with Bob on many occasions and have seen and know personally of his involvement with youth-related programs, I consider it an honor and a privilege to consider him as a friend and to nominate him for the 2013 NAHC Mentor of the Year award, as he is truly worthy and deserving."

From Bob:

"I'm very honored to have been nominated, and I very much enjoy working with young people. I can't describe the feeling I get when one of them flashes a big smile the first time they break a target or hit a milestone they've been working toward. One of the biggest rewards is seeing the improvement of youth, both in and out of the field."

From Jessica Irvin, wife of Cody:

"I would like to take this opportunity to nominate my husband, Cody Irvin, for the NAHC Mentor of the Year award. Time and time again I've watched as Cody has taken someone with little or no hunting experience and turned them into somebody who is passionate about hunting and conserving the land they hunt on.

"Cody's true love of everything outdoors is contagious and he instills that in everyone he helps. He shows great patience while sharing his knowledge and 100 percent of his effort in ensuring that someone else has a great hunting experience while his own seasons are put on hold. Even long after the hunt, Cody takes time to answer questions or help a person continue in the right direction. As someone who has experienced his help firsthand, I'm amazed at the amount of enthusiasm and love for hunting and the outdoors he continues to show. I truly believe that you will find that Cody is everything a mentor should be, and will continue to be.

"Cody has been an avid hunter for several years and, as a Life Member of the NAHC, his love for hunting is contagious. He's always lending his time and resources to ensure that someone has a positive experience, and in turn becomes an advocate for the outdoors.

"As someone who did not come from a hunting background, it has been truly amazing experiencing and learning about the outdoors. I look forward to Cody teaching our daughter all of the lessons he's taught me and others."

From Cody:

"I would like to thank my wife and the NAHC for being nominated for this amazing award. I truly enjoy everything about being outdoors. I have loved hunting since I was very young, and being able to share my experiences and knowledge with others has been the greatest reward."

From Anthony's daughter, Jaerie:

"The only reason I'm a hunter at all is due to all the time and effort my dad put in to teaching me to hunt. When my twin sister and I turned 9 years old, Dad told us we needed to take a hunter's safety class and he would start taking us out to hunt. He sat through every class with us, taught us everything we needed to know about the rifle he purchased for us to hunt with, and took us on our first youth hunt. He did the same for my older sister as well.

"When I became interested in turkey hunting, Dad got a new shotgun for my size and went through the same things he covered when he taught me the arts of deer hunting. Again, he did the same with both of my sisters. As I got older, I began to get interested in bow hunting and talked to my dad about what needed to be done. He helped me get the right bow and taught me the proper way to shoot it. He went through the exact same process when my twin sister started bow hunting. Dad was there last year when I got my first deer with a bow and helped me track it.

"My twin sister and I are 18 years old now and our older sister is 21. We all still enjoy hunting and look forward to going out with Dad. He's made sure we're all properly educated in all safety aspects concerning each type of hunting we partake in, made sure we had all the equipment we would need, and focused on safety and a quick and clean kill.

"The fact that my dad raised his three daughters to be hunters is pretty amazing. The fact that he is disabled and accomplished this is beyond amazing. He has a lifelong condition called "hydrocephalus" and contracted meningitis after a brain surgery to help control this condition. He is in constant pain and can only walk short distances before he gets winded - but that didn't stop him from being a mentor to his three daughters. He's very dedicated to hunting and his dad raised him?as he raised us - with a great interest in hunting.

"Dad is a member of several hunting-related organizations and has been a NAHC Trophy Member for quite a while. My sisters and I agree: We wouldn't be the hunters we are without the coaching and support we got from our father. We are family and we are hunters, and we will continue that tradition thanks to him."

From Anthony:

"It's hard to express in words what an honor this is to be considered Mentor of the Year finalist after being nominated by my daughter. I raised all three of my daughters hoping they would love hunting as much as I do. There was a period of time after I became disabled when I thought I might never hunt again, but my wife and daughters urged me to fight and hang on to the things I enjoyed doing.

"Teaching about hunting isn't something done in a day, week, month - or even a year. It's a lifetime of passing down the skills and traditions of hunting to anyone who will listen. It's become a part of who we are as a family."