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V.G.C.A. NEWS February, 2001
General. The January
meeting attracted another full house, and we had another great
program. Jeff Perkins, who is one of our members, presented the
program, and the regularly scheduled business meeting followed. The
election results for the Board of Directors were announced. Gary
Holderman, Ernie Lyles, and Moe Phillips were reelected to serve
another two-year term.
Program. Jeff Perkins,
who is a qualified armorer, put on quite a show. He brought a number
of tool and gauge sets used with M1 Garand rifles and explained what
they are for and how to use some of them. Jeff used five rifles
brought by five different members, dissembled them, and demonstrated
the use of some of the tools and gauges as he worked on the rifles. He
maintained interest and answered questions as he went along. When they
guys in the back row stay involved it means the presenter has his act
together and knows what he is talking about. Jeff definitely does and
set the tone by first talking about his display and showing us a tool,
a depth micrometer, which nobody knows how to use. He also told us
that some of the recently received Garand riffles from the CMP were
not ready to shoot. This program and the interest shown, regardless of
each member's particular collecting niche, shows that we are
interested in everything that has to do with firearms. For those
interested in having a first class job done on their Garand rifles by
a first-class guy, Jeff's telephone number is 301-251-9426. He would
also like to know if anyone knows how to use the depth micrometer.
Show and Tell.It is amazing what the members
continue to bring to the meetings to share with their fellow
collectors. Sonny Laine brought an 1853 Musket, Bill Edwards brought a
Beretta Garand chambered in 7.62, Jack Brickhill brought a
more-than-100-year-old British double-barreled shotgun chambered in
.410, and Addison Hurst brought an extremely rare and collectible
Teflon-coated Garand rifle. Once again, Larry Hare was the highlight
of Show and Tell. He brought a Steyr 8 mm pistol and a Remington Model
8 autoloader chambered for the 8.2X45 cartridge.
New Members. Three new members were welcomed:
Michael Bednarck; Gregory Cunningham; finally, after having his
application fall through the crack two times, Mike Miller. This brings
the total membership to 311.
Next Meeting. The next meeting will be on
Thursday, 22 February, and will start at 7:30 pm in the NRA Conference
Room. Doug Wicklund will present a program titled Relics and rust.
Doug is going to talk about preserving some of the ancient pieces we
all have in our collections in order to help us leave them for our
heirs without destroying them. This is another program that is
important to all of us and will take our education to the next level
of understanding.
Election. Congratulations are in order for
the three reelected members of the Board of Directors. There were four
candidates. All are qualified and have a concern for the VGCA at
heart. For those who think it is impossible to bring new blood to the
table, it is not so. I am an example, and so is Ernie Lyles, who was
elected to the Board for the first time last year. To show how close
it was this time, only 24 votes separated Larry Hare from the top
vote-getter.
Rest of the
Year.There are
two openings for programs, May and August. If you would like to
present or co-present with someone, please call Addison and tell him.
Please remember that your fellow members are interested in every
aspect having to do with collecting firearms. If you would like to
talk about what you have but feel you are not an accomplished speaker,
so what. We all started somewhere, and believe me, it is better to
start in front of friends with similar interests that it is to start
where the rest of your career might be influenced by listeners who
right from the start do not agree with what you have to say. With the
members, the important thing is what you have to say, not how you say
it. Give it a try at Show and Tell if you are shy abut talking to a
group. Many of the applications for membership state a willingness to
present a program. Well…
The tentative schedule for the rest of the 2001 follows: March --
Gun Show; April -- Beretta by R.L. Wilson (author of the Ruger book
and person who gave the Ruger program); May -- open; June -- VGCA
picnic on 2 June; July -- Norm Flayderman on collecting; August --
open; September -- Gun Show; October -- Bruce Canfield on US military
arms; November- December -- Phil Schrier on his African safari using
Teddy Roosevelt's rifles.
Dues. For those who have not paid
their membership dues please do so before the end of March. You can
mail it or take it to the meeting in February. Those who are in
arrears at the end of March will be dropped from the membership list.
Reinstatement will require having to go through the new-member
process.
Other Stuff. Ed Costello reported on the
financial status of the organization. We are solvent and can meet the
projected budget. More VGCA caps were sold, and more are available at
the old price of $15.00. It's Firm! Vince and Charlie Rausch will
carry our banner to the NRA Meeting in Kansas City this year. Our
display will feature general collecting.
Secretary's
Subtleties.
Please accept my thanks for the warm reception and applause that came
my way at the last meeting. There are times when I wonder if the time
spent on VGCA duties is worth it. Your show of support on the phone,
via your notes, and at the meeting makes it worthwhile. Thank you all.
However, I do have another axe to grind. The membership asked for
the chance to be involved in selecting officers and board members.
There was a great deal of teeth gnashing because only those who could
show up at a particular meeting could vote. Now we vote by mail, which
gives everybody an equal say. Only 94 members sent in ballots. That's
31% of the membership at the time. Some might say that 31% is a good
return -- not so. I would bet that most of the 31% represents the same
group who generally show up at the meetings. I tested the new way of
voting by asking a few members if they mailed in their ballots. In
each case the answer was no. There was also surprise that the ballots
could not be counted at the meeting. Let's do better next time.
President's
Corner. There are
two things I want to mention this month. I announced that the Show
Rules would be mailed to the membership for comment. This won't be
done until sometime after the show in March. The EXCOM will meet and
go over the rules before they are mailed for comment. For those who
have expressed concern about changing the course of the VGCA, I assure
you that if anything changes, it will be because of mandate, not the
loudest voices.
The second thing is the Gun Show itself. We didn't discuss it at
the last meeting. I want to remind everyone that successful shows do
not just happen. It takes hard work by many people, not just a few. We
need volunteers for every aspect. If you served last time, please
consider doing so again. Call the person who was in charge of your
committee and tell him you are available. We will have sign up sheets
at the next meeting. I want things to be pretty much in concrete so
please come prepared to sign up for something. Mike told me that he
has had at least 50 gun-show attendees in the last two months ask
about our Gun Show and tell him that it is the best in the area
because we are basically all guns and gun related. Think about that
when you think we should allow a percentage of each rented table to be
for non-gun stuff. -- Addison
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