# Hesperia grandmother always aiming to help others



## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

This was a front page article and continued on the front page pf the local section as well. There were several photos.

Hesperia grandmother always aiming to help others 

http://www.mlive.com/news/muchronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-10/116635415561440.xml&coll=8

12/17/06 By Michael Buck CHRONICLE STAFF WRITER

Bundled in a heavy coat, hunting boots, camouflage pants and carefully coifed silver-gold hair, Valeria Poholski shouted commands to a line of men laying prone on the ground, aiming their rifles and warming their wind-chilled trigger fingers. 

Poholski is a foot shorter -- and many years older -- than most competitors in the "M1s for Vets" shooting match at the Muskegon Pistol and Rifle Club, but she made sure everyone knew who was in charge, and few dared to challenge her authority. Those who tried to "help" her were swiftly set straight. 

"Shooters to the line," shouted Glenn Sheathelm, Poholski's longtime friend and hunting partner. 

"I'm calling the match," Poholski snapped back. "You sit down and be quiet, Glenn." 

This Hesperia grandmother of five takes joy in shooting and collecting firearms. But that's not all she has on her fully loaded schedule. 

Poholski recently toured the eastern Italian coast, collected blood for the American Red Cross, closed up her sprawling flower gardens for the winter and hiked the woods on her annual deer hunt.

"There aren't too many 78-year-old women running around in the woods with a gun," she said. 

There aren't many like Poholski anywhere. Besides shooting sports, she has a schedule that would rival most CEOs. 

She grows her own vegetables, attends Mass daily, globe-hops when needed for a charity that brings domesticated food animals to poor people around the world, and gets together with friends once a month to play cards and share a seven-course meal.

Poholski has been hunting for more than 50 years, starting out by accompanying her late husband, John, who died in 1981. She later joined a hunting party of co-workers; she and Sheathelm taught at Steele Junior High together in the 1980s. 

"She overheard me mention to another teacher about sighting in my deer rifle and maybe shooting in a match," said Sheathelm, of Muskegon. " Poholski said, 'Oh, well I would like to sight in my deer rifle, too.' " 

Normally hunting with a group 15 to 20 years younger than she is, Sheathelm said Poholski keeps up and enjoys walking in the woods. 

"It's my sport," Poholski said. "I like the outdoors." 

This year, Poholski hunted in Manistee National Forest near Caberfae during the opening days of deer season with Sheathelm. 

Poholski's hunting weapon of choice is a bolt-action Swedish Mauser carbine. "It's kind of beat up, but it still shoots straight," Sheathelm said. While target shooting, Poholski prefers an AR-15, the semi-automatic civilian version of the military's M-16 assault rifle. 

She also owns an M1 Garand, the heavy-duty .30 caliber standard issue for infantry soldiers during World War II, but says she doesn't like to shoot it.

"Look at me," she said, stretching out an arm. "My arms are too short for the Garand. The AR-15 fits me perfectly." 

The smaller, lighter rifle doesn't have as much recoil as other rifles do, making shooting easier on her shoulders. 

Her love of riflery extends to hunting. Poholski also passed her passion for the sport to her children and helps Boy Scouts earn merit badges by teaching them to shoot.

"We put (the Boy Scouts) through the safety course and teach them how to shoot," Poholski said. "They call me their den grandmother." 

Poholski's M1 doesn't go unused. Valerie Poholski, Valeria's daughter, uses the rifle to shoot targets, an activity inspired by her mother's passion for the sport. 

Poholski has been teaching safety classes for Michigan for 24 years. With that kind of experience, Sheathelm drew Poholski into officiating the national shooting championship at Camp Perry, near Port Clinton, Ohio. 

"Being a block officer for the national matches is sort of like being an umpire for the World Series," Sheathelm said. "It was amazing she was accepted so quickly." 

But guns don't shoot all of Poholski's waking hours. "That's just a sport I do," she said. 

Finding blanks on Poholski's calendar is a challenge. Flipping through months past, there are few days when she had nothing scheduled. 

"People say 'you're never home,' " Poholski said. "I say, 'It's my choice.' "

Poholski spends many hours working for the Red Cross in Hesperia as an instructor, cardiopulmonary resuscitation instructor and a blood collection coordinator, where she rallies support for and organizes blood drives. 

She is Hesperia's legislative liaison to Lansing, a role left over from her involvement on Hesperia's Village Council. She's a counselor for Camp Newaygo in Newaygo County, where she takes part every summer in what she affectionately calls "Camp Good Grief," a camp for young people who have lost loved ones. 

Poholski's newest role is a volunteer for the National Incident Management System, a program created by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to handle crisis situations around the country.

Her volunteer work for a worldwide charity called the Heifer Project took her to Poland in 2001, where she was promoting and educating recipients. The organization gives poor people animals that can provide necessity items such as milk and eggs. 

Poholski went to Poland because of her Polish heritage and her ability to speak the language. Polish was the primary language in her Tacoma, Wash., home when she was young. 

But her No. 1 priority is her church work at Christ the King Catholic Church in Hesperia. 

"Church is still my main thing," Valeria said of the numerous volunteer hats she wears. 

"She's involved in every aspect of parish life," said the Rev. Michael Alber, the resident priest at St. Michael's Church in Brunswick and Christ the King in Hesperia. 

Alber said if Poholski stopped doing her volunteer work, he would have to encourage a whole group of people to volunteer, "because it would take more than one person to do what she does." 

"She's a eucharistic minister, a lecturer, sings in the choir, cooks in the kitchen," Alber said, adding that she was active in bringing the Heifer Project to the attention of her parish. 

"I can't keep up with her," Valerie said. "In a nutshell, she's very concerned about community and being involved. 

"When she can see she can make a difference, she gets involved."


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## Gunslingergirl (Aug 31, 2006)

That's such a great story, and she is a terrific role model for young female hunters. 

I only hope I'm that active when I'm 78. 

GSG


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