Barbara Garney
Cypress, Texas
Immediate Past President
Lady Clay Shooters, Inc.

Shotguns have been a part of my outdoor life since the early 90’s.

I was scheduled to attend a women’s workshop weekend sponsored by Texas Parks and Wildlife, their Becoming an Outdoors Woman program.  I owned a shotgun, but did not take it because I was totally unfamiliar with its workings and I didn’t know one thing about shooting it.   The weekend was fantastic, I learned so much, and was hooked on shot gunning.

One of my instructors, who eventually became a very dear friend, encouraged me to attend the Ladies Charity Classic being held at American Shooting Centers the next weekend.  Well, I went, I broke 8 targets out of 50 and thought I had set the world on fire.

Over the past 25 years, there has been organized women’s shot gunning in the Houston area.  In 2005 I was asked to take the chair of the local ladies group.  We immediately began to reach out to women of all age groups, professions, ethnicity, and skill levels and began to grow our membership base.

In 2012 we officially became Lady Clay Shooters, Inc. a 501 (c)(3) a tax-exempt organization, supporting women in the shooting sports, firearm safety, equipment care and maintenance, and low cost instruction all the while supporting a local charity.

I am proud of our organization, what we accomplish each year, the number of ladies we bring into our group, and the fact that husbands want their wives to join us so they will join them on the shotgun course.

We give the ladies an opportunity to see just how much fun shotguns really are!

Nancy Reese
Houston, Texas
Secretary
Lady Clay Shooters, Inc.

SHOOTING – it all started when I sat down one day and made a list of all the things I needed to do.  This was a fun list that took me on private airplanes, Broadway shows, swinging a golf club, rowing a canoe, dancing, hot air balloons, rain forests and shooting guns.  On my first trip to the shooting range, with a borrowed shotgun, my first three skeet targets shattered and I was hooked.

With this new found hobby, my friend, Vicki, and I began our search for more girls that enjoyed breaking clay targets. That was more than 10 years ago, and from the very beginning, we  jumped in to help and participate in the yearly shooting event that raised money for the Be An Angel charity.

My career choices had me in accounting, teaching in public schools, business education and working in the world of insurance and criminal justice.  Always active, I also sit on the board of more than one charity and work with other nonprofit groups that keep me in the outdoors, involved in education, meeting elected officials, and working with others on public policy issues.

With these career paths and activities, my list of friends continues to grow.

Cathy Spangler
Houston, Texas
Treasurer
Lady Clay Shooters, Inc.

Insurance is a way of life for me.  I have been in the field for 40+ years, and I am currently a vice president and unit leader of a privately held insurance broker, Lockton.  Our team specializes in commercial insurance for Multi-National Marine and Energy Accounts.

Houston has been our home for 36 years, and my husband and I are both native Texans having grown up in San Antonio.  We have two grown girls that we are both very proud of. We have been grandparents of a beautiful granddaughter for nine years, and her mother just recently gave birth to twins so we are now the proud grandparents of three.  Our youngest daughter spent five years serving our Great Country in the Navy.  We are a very close knit family and enjoy spending vacation time together every year.

About five years ago a dear friend, Jay Warren, convinced me to shoot in the charity event for “Be An Angel”.  Knowing that I like to shoot but not having much of an opportunity to do so, he introduced me to Barbara that year and the rest is history.  Even though I am still very much an amateur at shooting, I have made friends with a great group of ladies and shoot as often as I can.

Jessica Forsdick
Houston, Texas
President
Lady Clay Shooters, Inc

I graduated from Texas Tech University in 2004 and now work in Oil and Gas in Houston, Texas. I am a member of Alpha Phi and sit as a delegate for Houston Panhellenic. I not only enjoy smashing clays and bird hunting, but enjoy spending time with friends, family, and my standard poodle, Stella; it is the best name to yell at the dog park. I am an avid collector of art and absolutely love to travel on road trips or far off international destinations; but I am just as happy on a patio with a glass of wine, cheese plate, and a good book.

I have been a member of the Lady Clay Shooters for several years now. I first discovered the group when deciding to take up sporting clays because it “looked like fun”.  That decision started a Google search and discovery of the group call the Lady Clay Shooters, Inc. After joining in summer league and LCS sponsored clinics, I was completely hooked! I volunteered for the board and have loved getting to know all the women in the group both on and off the clays course.

Cindy Gise
Cypress, Texas

I am a true Texan!  Born and raised in Dallas, I love all things Texan. I broadened my horizons by attending and graduating from Stephen F. Austin State University obtaining a BBA in Marketing.

Currently serving as the Accounting Administrator for an international commercial real estate firm, my work experience has spanned many fields - oil and gas (surface transportation and marketing), property management computer software, property management, commercial construction, commercial development, commercial brokerage activities, payroll, HR services and winemaking.

My husband, Dan, and I  have been married for over 40 years and are the proud parents of two children and prouder grandparents of four! My outside interests are as diverse as my work experience – needlecrafts, quilting, cooking, reading, hunting and shooting sports, service through my church and military support organizations.

After my youngest child left for college, I began searching for a joint hobby with my husband. He took me to shoot skeet and the rest is history. Shooting skeet awoke a love for shooting that led me to Lady Clay Shooters.

Kim Hegwood
Houston, Texas

I am a proud board member for Lady Clay Shooters. I have 3 beautiful children, and I am a proud ‘G-Momma’.

I have been a practicing Texas attorney for over 20 years, and I specialize in the areas of estate planning, probate, asset protection, special needs, guardianship, and elder law. In my spare time, I enjoy clay sport shooting, traveling, and spending time with my grandbabies.

Gennifer Horan
The Woodlands, Texas

I went to the University of Texas and majored in biology.  Jobs in biology are rather scarce so I moved to Houston (incidentally, my soon to be fiancé was moving from Dallas to Houston) and studied Radiologic Science at the University of Texas Allied Health in Houston.  To advance my education, I received my Masters in Health Administration at the University of Houston.

I married Craig Horan and we were transferred to Dallas where we lived and reared our children (Andrew and Catherine) for 18 years. While living in Dallas, during a family vacation, I traumatically had my hand amputated in a boating accident.  Unable to work in the radiology field, I turned to teaching biology in the public-school system. Thankfully, Craig was transferred back to Houston and I got to quit teaching!

Craig and I were soon to be empty nesters and were looking for something we both could do together now that we had so much time!  Craig had belonged to the Dallas Safari Club in Dallas and had been introduced to Sporting Clays.  We had heard about Westside Sporting Club.  We looked, we saw, we joined and started shooting from scratch!  There are so many shooting competitions in and around Houston that most of our weekends are at the various venues.

The friends and good buddies we have met at different tournaments and clubs has made the transformation from full time parents to grown up adults effortless.

Eloise Lucas
Richmond, Texas

I have been a board member for Lady Clay Shooters for 6 years. I have been in the marketing/event planning business for 10 years, and I am on the raffle committee for our annual fundraising clay shoot.

I am married and the mother of 4 children.  In my downtime, I enjoy horseback riding, reading and clay shooting. I began clay shooting with Lady Clay Shooters after seeing a flyer for their summer clay shooting tournament.  I was hooked once I hit my first clay!

Alicia Thomas
Houston, Texas

I work in Human Resources in the construction/transportation industry. I've been in HR for 15+ years. I enjoy meeting new people and talking about their skills and background while determining if they are compatible for the position I am recruiting for.

I have been married for 15 years and have three fur babies (two dogs and a cat). I am originally from Louisiana, but after living in Houston for 16 years, I am beginning to feel like a native. I started shooting shotguns a few years ago when my husband introduced me to skeet. I saw a flyer for the Ladies Shoot and signed up for the email distribution list. When summer arrived, I joined and have been hooked ever since. It has been a wonderful experience of learning to shoot and meeting wonderful friends. We often get together to shoot in various charity shoots and registered shoots because we truly enjoy spending time together doing what we love.

Amy Vanderhill
Midland, Texas

I am a petroleum geologist currently working in the Oil & Gas Industry.  I developed my love of all shooting sports from my father, Taylor, who was the Captain of his Air Force pistol team.  Taylor would take me with him to target practice, deer, dove and duck hunting.  Only within the past 5 years have I become an avid Sporting Clays shooter.

I am a BOI (Born-On the –Island) (Galveston) and longtime Houston resident.  Houston is remarkable for its proximity to so many wonderful shooting clubs.  Living in Houston has made participating in Sporting Clays events very accessible. We have 3 grown daughters, one who loves to shoot and my husband, Jim, who is one of my favorite shooting partners.

About 5 or 6 years ago, I met a fantastic fellow shooting enthusiast, Barbara Garney, who was instructing ladies in Sporting Clays.  Barbara offered friendship, companionship, and a network of fellow women shooters who are now near and dear to my heart.  The Lady Clay Shooters support and encourage women to participate in Sporting Clays events and offers a unique venue for women to feel comfortable and welcome in the sport.

Karen Ward
Cypress, Texas

After graduating from Sam Houston State University in 1983, I set off an adventure of a life-time.  For the next twenty-nine years, I spent my life in an elementary school classroom; specializing in language arts instruction. I wouldn’t trade all the laughter, tears, late nights up grading papers, and planning for any other career.  I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to work with children and watch them grow in their love for reading and writing.

Currently, I live in Cypress, Texas with my husband, Chuck Ward, and my sixteen year old son, Matthew. About seven years ago, my husband and I traded in our marathoning shoes for a couple of shotguns. (We soon learned that both sports are equally addicting.) Our son, Matthew, joined us shooting when he was about nine years old with a single-shot .410.  Since then, he has become an accomplished skeet shooter. When we are not out at the range, I enjoy working in my yard, cooking, quilting, and reading children’s literature and fiction novels.

My affair with shotgunning began when my husband came home one afternoon with a shotgun that he had “bought for me at lunch.” I distinctly remember rolling my eyes and remarking that you buy sandwiches at lunch; not shotguns. That poor little Ruger Red Label sat untouched in the gun cabinet for months, until one day I reluctantly agreed to go try it out. Although my first target was a loss, I was hooked the first time I pulled the trigger.  Within weeks, I was shooting in a skeet league at Hot Wells. Months later, I nervously showed up at the Lady Clay Shooters’ Charity Shoot. To my big surprise, Barbara Garney, the president of the club, sought me out and introduced me to my squad partners.  Before I knew it, Liz Edwards stuffed me in her clays cart, and we took off.  By the end of the day, I was breaking a few clays and wearing Robin Anderson's jacket because I was freezing to death. Driving out of the parking lot, I was dreaming of the next shoot.

Shooting shotguns and being a part of Lady Clay Shooters has added so much to my life.  Not only have I have met so many wonderful people and made life-long friends, but the shooting sports has brought my family even closer together. Never in my wildest dreams, did I ever dream that shooting shotguns would bring me so much pleasure.