After eight years in existence, the Humboldt Paintball Sports Club is going the way of the dodo.
At its general meeting in October, it was decided that due to lack of volunteers and a decline in membership, it was best to dissolve the club, which was based out of a range near the Carlton Trail Ski Club.
"You know how it is. People go away to university, get married or move somewhere else," said Ed Brockmeyer, founder of the club, on reasons for low membership.
Brockmeyer said when the club was first established in 2005, there were at least 25-30 members, the benefit being that members get to buy their own paintball guns and carbon dioxide at cost. Others had to rent, which was more expensive.
But slowly the members started trickling away and Brockmeyer soon realized that it'd be just too difficult to continue the club with only four members, himself included, remaining.
The club was established when Brockmeyer heard that the local RCMP were cracking down on kids running amok with paintball guns, vandalizing and shooting at local property.
"I wanted to give them somewhere to go to do that kind of stuff. Why not just make it a fun day and come out to a range to do that," he said.
The range put on by the paintball club played host many times to birthday parties, group events, even bachelor parties.
Now, although Brockmeyer has no interest in reviving the club, he's hoping someone else will take over the reins, possibly running it as a business like the local bowling alley.
"There's definitely a need for it here," he said. "A lot of people now have paintball guns so where are they going to use them? It'd be great if someone else took interest in this."
Brockmeyer has thousands of dollars-worth of equipment to sell.
Assets from the club will be generously donated to various local organizations, from the Humboldt SPCA to the Big Brother Big Sisters branch. Even the local Beaver Scouts will see a piece of the pie.
"That's what we wanted to do with our assets; all those groups really need the money," he said.
