Established in 1998, the club house was built in May of 1999 and, as the club members say, "The running water is outside". It's a nice clubhouse and offers lots of refreshments for the thirsty shooter.
In front of the clubhouse is this memorial, dedicated to Tom Kunzer, former President and a founding member of the Plains Trap Club who was killed in an automobile accident in January of 2009.
The memorial consists of the figure of a skeet shooter mounted atop a basalt column, with a bronze plaque in front, which reads:
In Memory of Tom Kunzer
Founding Member of the Plains Trap Club
For all his hard work and dedication
"Shut up and Shoot"
1954 - 2009
Read Tom's obituary, from the Missoulian, below.
Thomas George Kunzer
February 04, 2009
PLAINS - Thomas George Kunzer was born in 1954 to Anthony and Elizabeth Kunzer in Tinley Park, Ill., where he attended St. George Elementary. Tom continued his education at Tinley Park High School where he lettered in football, track, wrestling, basketball and baseball, and graduated in 1972; he was awarded the highest GPA for a three-sport athlete and as a senior, Kunzer was the top quarterback and defensive back in the Southeast Suburban conference, earning all-SES honors in 1971.
Immediately following school, he accepted a full scholarship to attend and play football at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas; in 1973, Tom was among a select group of student athletes that were honored as an Outstanding College Athletes of America.
It was in Las Vegas that Tom Kunzer met his first wife, Tina Kunzer-Murphy and was married Jan. 19, 1974. On May 11, 1983, his first and only son, Stephen Nicholas Kunzer was born. After college, Tom stayed in Las Vegas and began work as a mason and bricklayer, eventually finishing an electrical apprenticeship in the late 1970s, finishing at the top of his class.
Tom eventually met the love of his life, Cookie Kunzer, in Las Vegas and was married March 9, 1991. They had two beautiful daughters following, the eldest was born Alexis Nicole Kunzer on Sept. 16, 1991, and the youngest Nicole Elizabeth Kunzer was born Nov. 19, 1993.
The family eventually left Las Vegas in January 1994 and settled outside Plains, a town that he revered and which suited Tom perfectly. Tom loved the great outdoors, whether it was hunting, fishing, riding his Harley, and especially trapshooting; he felt at home here. Tom has left his personal signature on this town and the surrounding area, all you need to do is look at the buildings throughout town, some houses that have recently been built, the fairgrounds, or the Plains Trap Club, and you can see the level of masterful perfectionism that he used in his work. He touched many people's lives and was what a real man was supposed to be. He was always the first to help a friend or stranger in need and was absolutely one-of-a-kind.
From the Missoulian