Dateline: December 12 , 1928 — The National Rifle Association of America has granted charter membership in Junior Division to Far Rockaway High School, Far Rockaway Queens, L.I., N.Y.

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Far Rockaway High School had been in existence for several years -operating out of several rooms on the second floor of an elementary school on Academy Avenue in the Seaside section - the high school took occupancy of its new facility located on Nameoke Avenue in the heart of the Village of Far Rockaway in the early part of February of 1906.

After relocating to the new building, several extra-curricula athletic teams were added to the limited agenda and included in the program was a "rifle squad" -established immediately prior to the "outbreak" overseas in the early 1900s. ScmfordJ. Ellsworth., the first (and to be the longest assigned) principal of the school was very enthusiastic about the "arms program" and actively encouraged membership in the club. The physical facility of the new building was rather limited and so rifle practice was held outside the building - primarily on nearby practice ranges - many provided in cooperation with the local police.

Principal Ellsworth was awarded the plaque on behalf of the school immediately before the holiday vacation which was to take place at the end of the month of December (1928) and he had the large certificate professionally mounted behind glass and placed into a mint-green frame - which he then hung in his office -in the original school house on Nameoke Avenue.

During the period of 1927 - 1928, blueprints were drawn up for the construction of a new and larger school building - one that would be located on Bay 25th Street in the Wavecrest section of Far Rockaway and Principal Ellsworth "saw to it" that this brand-spanking new facility would include a large rifle range within the structure itself- a facility which would allow the club members "to qualify" right on the school property and without having to go elsewhere for practice or for competition. When the school transferred its student body and faculty to the new building in September of 1929, the new rifle range saw much activity and the club membership tripled that very first year in the new building.

With long-term faculty coach Richie Sierer, the team had already "racked up" a series of marksmanship awards and was well on its way to enter and advance in multi-school competitions. A glass trophy case was erected on the first floor near the entrance to the boy's gymnasium and for decades, large quality awards were on display for all to admire.

Principal Ellsworth was extremely proud of the two new sports arenas contained within the confines of the new building - an olympic-sized pool located in a separate southern wing of the complex and a complete six-position rifle range -located in the basement of the building, almost directly underneath the massive school auditorium. The commemorative award was removed from the principal's office of the old school (back on Nameoke) and was hung on the office wall of the wood-paneled principal's office in the new building. This framed plaque is certainly the only object to have been recovered which "graced" the walls of both of the Far Rockaway High School buildings.

The FRHS Rifle Team sometime in the mid 1940s. In the middle are coach Richie Sierer and Principal Monica D. Ryan.

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After the second world war, the popularity of "rifling" waned and interest dropped off considerably. Most likely, the public had "had enough" of shooting and killing and so within the last few years of the 1940s, the team slowly diminished until it was no longer viable to maintain the rifle team as a sports offering within the school curriculum. By the end of the 1950s, the basement rifle range in the "new" building was no longer being utilized for its originally intended purpose - but rather was employed as additional storage for school files. By the early 1960s, the only time students were even aware that such a facility existed was when they "sat" for their graduation photos - the professional photographers were given use of part of the "range" for taking yearbook pictures.

By the end of the 1970s, the "range" was still in use for storage - thousands of unused and outdated textbooks were being stocked there - and a supply of unused office machinery also found their way down - to simply be forgotten and to fade away. From time to time, during occasional paper drives, students and faculty members would visit the old rifle range to collect antiquated books to be shredded for paper recycling projects and on even rarer occasions, school custodians would cart away some of the old mechanical equipment - filling up dumpsters with an assortment of garbage that had been stored for decades in the long unused basement facility.

It is doubtful that the rifle range will ever again see the use for which it was originally intended. Like so many other basement facilities in the large school structure, without windows or any other sort of proper ventilation, it will continue to be the receptacle of a collection of a variety of useless things - most of the occupants of the building will never be aware that the place is even there.