BUT
, there are some other closely related things that need to be sorted out at some stage, and maybe the sooner the better, before they come to a head also. They relate to how the Queens Prize meeting processions are conducted. My information is that the F-Class Queens badge issue was originally triggered by the question of whether F-Class shooters should be entitled to march behind the chairing procession as former No 1 badge winners. And there is also the question of who get's the chair ride, which as far as I know, has remained the preserve of the TR winner. In a way, its quite a complex challenge for the full bore community to work through and is going to involve compromise if TR and F-Class are to stay unified as most of us hope we will. On the one hand, the TR people can justifiably say that their equipment has stayed closer to the traditional military target rifles of old, and they can rightly say that they have an uninterrupted history of being the premier class at Queens events. On the other hand, F-Class entry numbers are probably going to exceed TR at all Queens events within the next decade, so they will have the voting numbers to change things to improve their status relative to TR.
Another issue which has surprisingly not yet been addressed is the safety aspect of the chair ride. As the TR population ages and reduces in numbers, the availability of suitably fit people to hoist the chair shoulder high is becoming a problem. The risk of serious back injury to the lifters, or possibly worse injuries to an ageing winner falling from that height needs to be looked at urgently IMHO. It is way out of step with current safety practices.
We have discussed these things on the forum over the years, but I don't remember any ideas which really stood out in terms of being acceptable to everyone. From memory we just ended up joking about some extreme ideas for an F-Class equivalent to the chair ride. I think it would be good to throw around some ideas about this. Maybe we need to "think outside the square" a bit? Is there a way that the procession and awards can be done which doesn't favour any particular class as the premier class?
How about having each of the disciplines with a part of the same procession to themselves? So the RO and band would lead, followed by a series of small groups with the winner(s) of each discipline, without any particular emphasis on the order of the groups. So for example :
1. RO
2. Pipe band
3. F-Std winner
4. F-Std B winner
5. TR winner (in chair?)
6. B and C Grade winners.
7. F-Open winner
8. F/TR winner
The RO would present each winner with a separate announcement, with no one winner being given special treatment. I haven't included former winners of any class, because my personal preference would be to dispense with this tradition. In the days when there were 500 or so TR entries, it would have been more meaningful, but nowadays, former No 1 badge winners are quite a high percentage of the crowd! The chair ride could remain a TR only tradition, but if so, needs a serious safety assessment.
That's just one idea to get you thinking. It'll be good to get some more. If we can come up with something we think would be widely acceptable, then the next step would be to put it to one of the more progressive S & T Queens committees to trial. It might even be a good thing to encourage the National Queens organisers to take the lead on this. My impression is the NRAA Board would now be more open to new ideas.
One important thing is to have a positive approach to this discussion. It is not an invitation to criticise TR. It is a request for ideas to help keep TR and F-Class united as the balance of numbers changes in the years ahead.
I read this thread just after Alan posted it and the first thing that went through my mind was pope mobile/golf buggy. 
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