Poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote “I shot an arrow in the air, it fell to earth I know not where”. I don’t profess to know where Henry’s arrow fell either, but I do know where you can go to get that arrow up in the air, and that would be Kidds Archery in downtown Shelbyville.

Roy and Carol Kidd moved their business from Cowden to 157 E. Main St. in Shelbyville. The Kidds’ business was in Cowden for two years, but they also operated out of their home for 15 years. They were able to bring a faithful following with them and their business has hit the ground running as they say. This reporter visited with the Kidds Tuesday evening and the place was packed with customers.

“We have had this business for 17 years and a lot of our customers who used to drive to Cowden are walking in here saying they are so glad the business is here in town,” said Carol Kidd.

At the present time their hours of business are 5-9 p.m. Mon., Tues., Thurs., and Fri. and all day on Sat. 9-5. They do plan to expand those hours as business grows. They said during hunting season they are always very busy.

The store sells archery supplies and hunting gear including boots and clothes. They also have fishing supplies and plan to add to their fishing supplies as the season heats up.

“We will be specializing in lures for Lake Shelbyville,” said Carol Kidd. “I think that will be a real nice addition to our archery supplies.”

They work on bows and have a archery range in the store. A big part of their business now is working on bows.

“Very few people work on bows any more, they sell them but don’t like to work on them.” said Roy Kidd. “I work on all the bows.”

Roy Kidd went on to say bows should be serviced every year.

The fees for the range are $4 per hour or pay $ 25 and shot unlimited for the month. They also have a family plan costing $35 and the entire family can shot for the whole month.

They have plans to offer lessons for kids in archery possibly next month.

More plans are on the drawing board for a small snack shop with hot dogs, BBQ sandwiches, chips and things like that. Other plans include bringing in T-shirts, and sandals.

The Kidds have a friendly helpful staff who love archery, if you are looking for a new hobby you might think about this sport.