Giant archery center opens this week in Newberry
By Brad Goldbach
For The Herald

NEWBERRY -- It’s been two years in the making, but the arrows will finally fly at the Olympic-sized regional archery center in Newberry at the grand opening ceremony this Friday.

The Easton-Newberry Sports Complex will officially open with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 11 a.m. on Oct. 30.

Arrows will fly, with residents being able to take part in the action.

The Hoyt Staff team will perform archery demonstrations at the ceremony, while Easton’s resident coach, Bob Romero, will supervise as people take aim at Olympic-style and 3-dimensional targets.

Other clubs, such as Katsu Dojo Karate and Florida Fencing Academy, will also put on demonstrations at the event.

The ceremony will feature appearances by guests, such as Easton CEO Jim Easton, former Olympic medalist and Executive Director of USA Archery, Denise Parker, and the coach of the USA Paralympics team, Randi Smith. Mike Tyrell, president of the Archery Shooters Association, will also make a special announcement.

The archery center, which was made possible by $1.5 million in contributions from the Easton Sports Development foundation and the remaining $900,000 from the city of Newberry, has the potential to greatly impact the city’s economy.

People are expected to come from all over the globe to train at the facility, one of just several in the country.

The archery center also will be a host to national and maybe international competition.

The center includes an archery training facility that will be indoors and outdoors, a community recreation portion that will be used by the city and a cross country track.

“We are all excited to be able to show off the latest initiative,” Newberry City Manager Keith Ashby said. “It indicates to us and to Newberry that we are on the move, and we are going to have a lot going on in the future.”