Hundreds of sharpshooters in and around this rural community are cleaning their shotguns as they look forward to Saturday's 63rd annual Pigeon Day. Beginning at around 8 A.M., participants who have paid a fee will each have the chance to shoot at ten to twenty pigeons as they are released from boxes. Shooters are scored according to a point system that, at day's end, rewards the most accurate of all with the coveted Sharpshooter's trophy. Proceeds from the shoot go to maintain the community's 40-acre park. Organizers said approximately 5,000 birds are acquired for the event. Some are purchased from local breeders, while others are trapped in big-city railroad yards. The pigeons are placed in white boxes. Each shooter takes a turn firing at a series of birds as they are released individually by ropes attached to the boxes. Most birds are downed. Many are killed instantly, some are wounded. All downed birds are retrieved by so-called wringer boys, who break the necks of the wounded and place all bodies in plastic bags. The bodies are then sold for fertilizer. A few birds manage to escape. The shoot takes place in a festive, picnic atmosphere of barbecued chicken, water ice and frolicking children. Attendance last year was estimated at 4,000. Pigeon Day is the traditional climax of Family Fest, a weeklong celebration of amusement rides, pie eating contests.

You were a wringer. You were in charge of killing all the wounded and unharmed birds and in charge of putting all the bodies away.