The Day Family
Back row (L to R): Andrea, Jena, Gwen, and Chantal.
Front row (L to R): Allan, Josh, Don, and Travis.
Day Family Bios
– Tradition –
Don
Don is the founder and visionary of Silver Willow Sporting Club. He grew up enjoying shotgun sports and hunting. As a big part of the Day family tradition, hours were spent upland and waterfowl hunting with his brother Allan and father Buster. He started shooting trap at the age of 13 winning the gold medal at the 1978 Alberta Summer Games. Don has won the titles of both “High All Round” Provincial Trap Shooting Champion and Trap Handicap Provincial Champion. He also holds the very rare title of “Grand Slam”, earned in Canada and held by only 6 shooters. He has competed in Western Canada and the Western United States, winning many titles in all three of the trap shooting arenas.
In 1988 Don was introduced to sporting clays and his world changed forever! He immediately built and opened a 10 station Sporting Clays Course at Silver Willow Pheasant Farm. Don would go on to found the Alberta Sporting Clays Association and held the Provincial Sporting Clays Champion title for several years running.
Chantal
Chantal shoots sporting clays for fun with girlfriends and her husband, always enjoying the sport as a way to relax and socialize. Chantal is currently working as a social worker.
Andrea
Andrea is part of the management team and does all things financial at Silver Willow. Andrea started shooting at 12 years of age alongside both of her parents, Uncle, and Grandpa. As a young teen, she participated in family hunting trips for both geese and ducks. She quickly became a serious competitor in sporting clays taking the Alberta Provincial Women’s Sporting Clays Championship in two different years. In addition to her full time practice as a Certified Chartered Accountant, Andrea also plays an important role at Silver Willow. She also enjoys spending time shooting at the Club.
Gwen
Co-owner and wife, Gwen competed with Don in trap shooting across Alberta and BC, as well as competitions in the state of Montana. She has won titles in the Calgary Stampede Grand trap shoot and at the Montana State trap shoot as well as many other small local shoots. Recently, she has been spending more time focusing on her art career and has been accepted into the Federation of Canadian Artists. You can see her art on display in the clubhouse at Silver Willow. Don and Gwen have raised three children who are all a part of the Silver Willow business and are shotgun shooters as well.
Josh
At a very early age Josh started bird hunting with his dad, sister, Grandpa Buster and Uncle Allan and he continues to be an avid waterfowl bird hunter today. Josh’s first competitive trap shooting title came in winning the Alberta Sub Juniors Championship title. He has continued to compete and win in many other shotgun shooting events throughout the province rapidly earning his way to competing in Masters Class. Within the Canadian National Sporting Clays Association, Josh was ranked number two Top Shooter in 2015. Josh partnered with his parents in the operations of Silver Willow and the Day & Co. Josh is now the manager of the business. Josh’s wife Jena and their four children can be seen frequently checking in at the clubhouse.
Allan
Allan is Don’s older brother and one of Alberta’s top trap shooters. He has won Alberta Trap Singles, Handicap, Doubles and High All Round Champion, many times over. Unbroken since 1997, he still holds the highest score of 399/400 clays for the Alberta Provincial Trap Shooting Championship. Allan holds title to the Canadian Singles Champion, and High All Round Champion in two different years and has more than 150 buckles in his collection of wins for singles, doubles and handicap for first-place prizes. He has shot numerous 100/100 and 200/200 straights in trap shooting. You’ll often see Allan at Silver Willow shooting, helping out, and competing in both fun and registered shoots in Masters Class. He is the owner of Claybird Shooting Supply, selling shotgun-reloading components to avid sportsmen.