“The one little girl said, ‘I like Katniss so much and I want to be like her,’ Nye recalled of a first-timer who showed up recently at one of the group’s weekly Sunday shoots at the Fox Harbor Archers shooting range near Columbia.”

Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), The Hunger Games

Yesterday’s Lancaster Sunday News carried an article about the popularity surge in archery; a Columbia area archery club, Fox Harbor Archors, is mentioned in the article.

“No one who’s seen the blockbuster movie ‘The Hunger Games’ wouldn’t want to stand up and cheer at the scene.

“Katniss Everdeen, a teen girl trying to impress a bored committee of Gamemakers with her ability to shoot a bow and arrow, slings a dead-eye shot into a bulls-eye.

“She turns with a sigh of relief to her scorers. But their backs are turned as they sip drinks and hobnob.

“With controlled seething and in one swift movement, Katniss, played by Jennifer Lawrence, nocks another arrow and zings it between the disinterested men.

“With a satisfying thwack, the arrow neatly dislodges a polished red apple from the mouth of a roasted pig.

“A heroine is born.

“An archer heroine.

“It’s not a craze, at least not yet. But the prominent role of Katniss’ traditional bows — they save her from death multiple times and keep her and her mate in food — in one of the most anticipated movies ever has sparked a renewed interest in archery among local youths, especially tweens.

“Already, Lancaster-based Lancaster Archery Supply has designed and rushed into production the ‘Capitol’ and the ‘The District’ bows, the first functional bows inspired by the book and movie.

“Both bows, one a traditional wooden longbow, the other a more modern recurve bow, replicate the bows Katniss uses in the movie. Click here to continue reading the Lancaster Sunday News article.