The Commercial Appeal from Memphis, Tennessee • 138

it 'V li fcwfe Me Maw 9 By James Andrews a 1 f-'' 'Ji f' Hi llh 1 1: A Sic- if ty i 5 s' I' i I I JlHE ILLINOIS COUPLE had spent an unusual night and morning camping out in northwest Withrow Springs State Park near Huntsville First the rains had come beating down on their tent all night long Then when the rains left that morning the woods suddenly were full of crossbowmen and the dull twangs and subsequent thunks of arrows striking targets That is correct Crossbowmen from such distant realms as Texas Oklahoma Tennessee Missouri Illinois New York New Jersey and Delaware all right there in Merrie Olde Arkansas in the non-medieval year of 1973 Crossbowwomen were there too as a matter of fact competing alongside the men in the 20th annual tournament of the American Crossbow Association (ACA) never saw a crossbow the Illinois woman was saying in amazement while she and her husband stood among the handful of spectators "You know it looks like shooting a bow and arrow and cheating a someone nearby agreed "Or shooting a rifle with a The art of shooting the crossbow is practiced in this country by a small but enthusiastic sect of hobbyists who seemingly love to live in the past Setting themselves apart from the standard longbow archers they have formed a couple of associations which sponsor tournaments wear membership patches and award trophies and medals to their sharpest shooters The FALL SHOOT at Huntsville Ark used to be quite a big to-do it is said Costumed performed on trickshooting teams Costumed riders fired crossbows from horses or speared rings with lances And there was even an elegant medieval horse-drawn coach for the tournament "That was right after the tournament was moved here from Blanchard Springs in says Arlis Coger a Huntsville pharmacist "Folks here supported it to start with We had as many as 5000 show up one year I guess But then folks just kind of wore out on The man behind the tournament was and is George Stevens of Huntsville A 77-year-old master crossbow-maker who left a career in advertising art in Chicago to move to Arkansas 40 years ago he has the swashbuckling aristocratic look of an elderly Errol Flynn complete with white moustache and goatee wife and I moved to Huntsville from Batesville so the tournament moved with he says city gave us a piece of land to use each year and we got the riding club interested That was how all the horses were involved to help the pageantry "But after awhile the riders decided rather be cowboys than knights and they turned our Continued George Stevens a sort of a cross between an aging Errol Flynn and a master craftsman is the man behind the crossbow tournament held annually in the Arkansas Ozarks The 77-year-old bow-maker lives in Huntsville which bills itself as the Capital of the United 4 Wm Co-idol Appul Mid iouSi Magma.