Each Day is a Gift

Trapshooting tourney held in memory of ‘TJ’ Houdek

By John Burbridge

sports@charlescitypress.com

NASHUA — Tim Kueter remembers Thomas John Houdek, otherwise known at “TJ”, as a good kid who “knew how to have fun … whether it being hunting or dirt biking, or just hanging out with his friends. But he always stayed out of trouble.”

Kueter then pondered a little bit more.

“Well, he did get in trouble with me once,” he said. “He came to a shoot with a hole in his back pocket, and I had to disqualify him. But that was the only time and never came dressed that way again.”

Kueter was Houdek’s trapshooting coach when the latter was a student at Charles City High School.

“He was great teammate … a great role model for younger shooters,” Kueter said. “He continued to be one of our biggest supporters even after he graduated. I also considered him a good friend.”

Along with many others, Kueter lost a friend on July 17 when Houdek’s motorcycle collided with a semi-truck within a treacherous intersection in Floyd County.

At the Nashua Fish and Game Club on Sept. 3, a trapshooting tournament was held in “TJ’s” honor.

“Holding an alumni trap tournament was something I always wanted to do but never got around to do it,” said Steve Mercer, who was an assistant coach for the Charles City/Nashua-Plainfield trapshooting team when Houdek was a member.

“When TJ died, that finally put it over the top to start it in his honor.”

Proceeds from the tournament were to go to a scholarship fund in Houdek’s honor, as well at the Ducks Unlimited Iowa State University chapter.

Houdek, who was studying dairy science at ISU, was the president of that chapter.

“We take pride having one of our kids go on to take a leadership role for something he believed  in,” Kueter said.

Though an alumni tournament was originally his idea, Mercer credits Houdek’s family, former teammates and a bevy of friends for making it happen. One of whom was Bethany Schriever.

“I’m not really a trapshooter,” said Schriever, a 2012 graduate of Rockford, who was good friends with Houdek, “but I knew this is what he loved to do, and I knew this (tournament) would be a great way to honor his memory.”

Schriever says that they plan to make the memorial tournament an annual thing. The continual theme will likely be “Each Day is a Gift, Not a Given Right” which was printed on the tournament’s commemorative T-shirts.

“It was a favorite saying of his,” Schriever said. “It also was one of his tattoos.”

There were nearly 100 shooters competing in the 50-bird tournament. Several entered more than once.

“We had one guy shoot 500 rounds,” said Wanda Tierney, one of the tournament’s organizers.

When all the scores were tabulated, it came down to a three-way shootout with Mercer, Charles City senior Luke Hillegas, and Aredale resident Jess Sprung — who all shot 49s — to determine the men’s champion.

Sprung won the shootout with Mercer taking second and Hillegas placing third.

For the women’s division, Rebecca Tierney placed first ahead of Sydney North (2nd) and Diane Roth (3rd).

Aside from trapshooting, the tournament featured a series of “Annie Oakley” competitions where a trio of shooters aim for the same flighted bird — if the first shooter misses and second hits, the first shooter is eliminated; if the first two shooters miss and the third hits, the first two are eliminated.

In addition to a silent auction that took bids throughout the day, there was a live auction at the end of the tournament. Among the items garnering the highest bids were pillows made from shirts left in Houdek’s closet. There were six of them and they attracted closing bids ranging from $200 to $265.