Paintball Magazine June 2018 | Page 123

A simple 52 minute drive from the State Capitol of Illinois, Springfield, you will find a large and incredible paintball field known as Paintball To Go, located in Roodhouse, Illinois. Owners Joe and Angie Schnelten have dedicated over 20 years in this sport that started with three guys starring and talking about paintball markers on a computer, (thankfully for us, Angie said “just go buy some and be done with it”). Joe and his buddies went to the local farm store and all three bought Brass Eagle Stingrays and from that moment they were hooked. Joe says “I was too cheap to pay $10 for a squeegee so I made my own. They worked very well and my buddies wanted them.” This led to Joe making these and many other items to start their paintball business. Online business was booming with their home filled with inventory and Joe was working on his PhD in chemistry when their first child was born. Angie said to Joe, finish your degree, or do your paintball thing, but pick one, Joe said paintball was more fun… They started building the fields in 2001 simply because Joe enjoyed playing the game. Paintball To Go is located on 106 acres of 3rd generation family farm. Monte Cassino is played on approximately 80 acres. It is very much a family affair. Joe and his dad are constantly making field improvements. They’ve built everything from a full size pirate ship to the current project of a complete full size town, all milled from trees on the property with a sawmill they acquired and is on the acreage. As Monte Cassino arrives (and as stated before, this is very much a family affair) Angie works behind the counter getting players signed up and handing out paint. . Joe is on the field making sure everything is operating smoothly, and their daughters Madison and Josie, will be on the field reffing, while 9 year old son Jacob will be running errands. Joe’s other sister Carrie and Cathy’s husband Adam will be in the cook shack making sure players have some amazing food to keep them energized for the intense battles. www.paintball.media 0123