A memorial and benefit archery shoot will be held Sunday for the Doug Hert family. Hert, an avid outdoorsman, died as a result of COVID-19 in January. Photo courtesy of the Doug Hert Memorial Archery Shoot

WARREN, Pa. — When a fellow archer passed away in 2016, Doug Hert was at the heart of an effort to put on an archery tournament in memory of his friend and to raise funds as a benefit for the family.

When Hert died in January after a five-week battle with COVID-19, the local archery community knew what it had to do.

That response comes to fruition this weekend as the Doug Hert Memorial Archery Shoot.

“It was a pretty quick call to the other guys that were involved in the other shoot,” Adam Miller, one of the organizers, explained. “(We) have to do this.”

It’s a way to pay it forward in remembrance of a good friend. But it also models Hert’s approach to life.

“(He) just always was one of those guys, he says ‘You can call me, I’ll come help you,'” Miller said.

And he’d be there.

Miller said he had a home project he was worried about and bumped into Hert at a local pizza place. Hert came up twice to help him sort it out.

“He just did it,” he said. “It didn’t matter how busy he was. It didn’t matter if we hadn’t talked in a month. That’s the way he was.”

Miller said Hert would often invite him to go fishing on Lake Erie. “When you talk about when someone’s gone, the things you regret” are not taking Hert up on more of those opportunities. “That’s kind of the way life goes sometime.”

According to a website set up for the event — doughertmemorialarcheryshoot.com — Doug was a home inspector and before that a self-employed contractor. His obituary says he left behind his wife, Karen, and two sons, Bradley and Marcus.

An avid outdoorsman, Miller said that Hert was instrumental in bringing the Cabela’s archery shoots to Warren for several years. He was also heavily involved with a soap box derby team.

That 2016 archery tournament was to raise funds for the family of Don Mineweaser.

“When Don was sick,” Miller said, “anything Don needed, Doug would take care of it. That’s who he was.”

Miller said Hert pushed for the shoot for Mineweaser to benefit the family but also because he wasn’t sure what else to do to honor Mineweaser.

It’s safe to say the motivation to benefit the Hert family is very similar.

The event will be held Sunday, July 18, at 1641 Dutch Hill Road in Warren.

Cash prizes will be awarded and first place plaques for nine different shooter classes. The event will include 30 target courses, a hunter course for casual archers and an IBO course for competitive archers. Breakfast, lunch, and snacks available on-site. Kids under 12 will shoot for free.

Pre-registration is appreciated so organizers know how many to expect but it isn’t required.

“We’re just hoping to get a good turnout,” Miller said. “(We’re) hoping for 50 to 70. I really don’t know. (There are) enough people from up in New York State that knew Doug… that still shoot. They’ve put our shoot on their master schedule list, all the clubs.”

Talk about a sign of respect from the archery community.

“Everybody left this weekend open for us to have this shoot,” Miller said.