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Although he was
never known to have ever pointed a gun at a registered target
there is ample evidence that Shaner did indeed shoot many clay
targets in the late 1800's and very early 1900's but he never
shot a registered target. Elmer F.
Shaner still was recognized as the
"Dean of Organized Trapshooting," the man who put the
sport on the athletic map. Shaner spent nearly 50 years in the
sport and didn’t miss a single Grand American until
failing health stopped his streak in the last two years of his
life.
On August 22, 1890
Shaner was in attendance at the organizational meeting of the
PSSA at the Crosby House in Corey, PA. He was elected the first
PSSA Secretary on that hot evening in western Pennsylvania. The
rest is history
Shaner was managing
tournaments for the Pennsylvania State Sportsman’s Association
when the old Interstate Manufacturers Trapshooting Association,
a forerunner of today’s Amateur Trapshooting Association,
chose the former school teacher from the Pittsburgh, Pa. area to
guide the destiny of their sport as its secretary-treasurer. He
managed all 10 of the Grand Americans at live birds, from 1893
through 1902, also was the manager of the first 19 Grand
Americans at inanimate targets.
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