With 54 years of teaching Florida hunter safety courses between them, Terry and Norma Neenan, from Bell, have been named the 18th Annual Winchester National Volunteer Hunter Education Instructor of the Year for 2004.

With Terry having 32 years of tenure with the program, and Norma logging 22 herself, they have offered or participated in approximately 454 courses, certifying approximately 20,750 students while donating approximately 7,543 hours to Hunter Safety, according to Steve Robbins, Regional Hunter Safety Coordinator for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s (FWC) North Central Region.

The Neenans will attend the International Hunter Education Association’s annual meeting in Las Vegas April 26-28 to receive their award.

“You could have knocked us over with a feather,” Terry explained. “Because we were a couple, we didn’t think we had a chance of getting this award.”

“I’m not surprised that the Neenans won this honor. These two are amazing,” Robbins explained. “They were the first couple in Florida to introduce team-teaching into their courses.

“In 2004, Terry and Norma certified 531 students in 22 courses, while serving as chief instructor in nine of those courses. They work tirelessly with new instructors to familiarize them with Florida’s Hunter Safety program. They advertise for new instructors in each course they participate in, recruit from the ranks of 4H and Junior ROTC programs, and they attend outdoor shows in an attempt to recruit new instructors,” Robbins said.

Terry and Norma won the FWC’s Statewide Hunter Safety Instructor of the Year award in 2003. In 1990 and 2002, they received Regional Area Coordinator awards. They served as Florida state volunteer coordinators for the National Bowhunting Education Foundation (NBEF) for eight years, traveling the state teaching students as well as certifying other instructors to teach the NBEF course, according to Robbins.

Some of their other accomplishments include:

* They both graduated from Clemson University’s Master Wildlifer Course to further their knowledge.

* They are active in the Gilchrist County 4-H chapter, conducting shooting sports programs for the agency and giving a special talk to the 4-H that covered gun safety issues, regarding proper gun handling in the home and field. (This was not part of any regular Hunter Safety course.) They were awarded the Outstanding Service to 4-H of Gilchrist County award in 2003.

* They took the NRA training for instructor certification and are certified NRA instructors in the pistol, rifle shotgun and muzzleloading disciplines. They are also certified NRA range safety officers.

* Terry is a member of the Fort White Gun Club, past president of the Tampa Bay Beagle Club, Secretary of Crane Bay Hunting Club for over the past eight years.

“The Neenans inspire and teach ethics both in and out of the classroom. They are still as enthused, energetic and active as they were 20 years ago and willing to help promote and teach the Hunter Safety courses. They actively teach and assist over a six county-area (Alachua, Levy, Dixie, Gilchrist, Suwannee and Columbia). And they have never canceled a class because of bad weather. They are amazing,” said Robbins.

“Terry was an instructor when we got married,” Norma said. “I became an instructor myself out of ‘self preservation’ so I could spend some time with my husband.”

And it’s become a family affair. Patrick Neenan, one of the couple’s six children, is also a Florida Hunter Safety instructor.

Both the Neenans are avid hunters. They run beagles for deer and rabbits in Dixie County.

“I like still hunting too,” Norma explained. “I love sitting in a tree stand, listening to the sounds of the woods. It’s my ‘quiet’ time.”

“One good thing about being an instructor is we’re always running into former students when we’re in the woods,” Terry said. “And the best part of that is we know they’re safe hunters … if they paid attention during the class!”

For more information on Hunter Safety and the courses offered, check out http://MyFWC.com/HunterSafety.

The Neenans will be conducting an Online/CD Rom Field day April 2 at Cross City Correctional Institute in Dixie County and another Online/CD Rom Field day June 11 at the Gilchrist County Sheriff’s Office range north of Trenton. They will hold a class for the 4-H summer camp at the same location June 27-30, and will offer a one-day National Bowhunter Education Foundation course at Bear Archery in Gainesville July 16.