V.G.C.A NEWS MARCH '00

Election and Meeting

The meeting to elect three new members to the Board of Directors took place as scheduled on 24 February. More than 70 members attended and elected Mo Phillips, Ernie Lyles, and Gary Holderman. Rick Nahas changed his mind and removed his name from nomination. Blair Gluba Larry Hare deserve accolades W allowing their names to be put in nomination. More of our members should step forward to run for office and staff other positions. The new Board members were elected for a one-year period until we get back on a two-year cycle next January.

nose in attendance were treated to the especially pleasant sight of seeing that Ed Johnson had recovered enough from his recent surgery to not only attend the meeting, but to pass the gavel to Addison, be elected by the strongest acclimation ever heard in that particular meeting space to the position of President Emeritus, and receive an engraved silver bowl from the membership for his 16 years of service as President. For all of the new members Ed started this Association, and it has grown from the less than 10who met regularly at his house to more than 300 today.

Jim Burgess was also presented with an engraved silver bowl for his 12 consecutive years devoted to taking charge of our twice-yearly gun shows. There is a great deal more to the job than assigning tables. Jim, unofficially, was the overall Gun Show Guru. He had help, but he was the driving force, and we all owe him thanks for making our shows what they are-the best in northern Virginia.

Roger Sherman presented an hour-long program that equaled anything the Discovery or History television channels could present. Roger traced the history of firearms development in Japan from 1897 to the end of World War II. He traced the development of pistols all the way from the Type 30 to the Type94 to the five T-14 manufacturers with samples of each. He also had a couple of swords and three of the finest looking Type-44 carbines anyone will ever see in one place at the same time. Roger's presentation was also enhanced by Jim Kemp, who was a guest and is a noted collector of Japanese equipment in the local area.

The presentations and program were followed by Show and Tell and a short business meeting. There was a new twist to the business portion, and that was having the Secretary give a short update on what transpired at the first two EXCOM meetings chaired by the new VGCA President.

Show and Tell

This portion of our meetings is always a highlight. Eight members stood up and talked about what they had.  Hal Prucha brought an interesting 45-70 rifle. Paul Peak brought swords and fighting sticks. Bob Sears brought a pattern for the 1885 single shot with serial number 00. Steve Smith brought an unfired Japanese paratrooper carbine that was still in the original issue bag from the factory. Ernie Lyles brought two Japanese pistols and an Ortgies rifle. (That's right, an Ortgies rifle) Torn Kyriakakis brought Japanese pistols, including both a Papa and a Baby Nambu. Larry Hare, who is Mr. Show and Tell, outdid himself when he showed a Danish shotgun where the breech block actually goes forward during the firing sequence. John Brickhill brought a drilling. This one just happened to be a George Sutton specimen gun. He also brought a Charles Daly with serial number 270. Last, but not least, Paul Martin showed his 1913 Mexican Arisaka and a German-marked Nagant rifle.

Next Meeting

The 27 April meeting "I start at 7 p.m., not 7:30. Please mark your calendars so you arrive on time. The program will be an NRA presentation by Jim Supica and Rick Nahas. Rick and Jim coauthored the Standard Catalog of Smith and Wesson in 1996. You might want to bring your copy and have them autograph it. Unless I have a senior moment, I will bring mine.

The program in May will be presented by Pat Hyland, a safari consultant for the Savanna Safari Club.

June-July

The date for the picnic has changed from 3 June to 10 June. There will be a pig roast at the NORVA property, and the ranges will be open for members and guests. There will be a sign-up roster at the April meeting. Bring a favorite dish that will feed at least four people. It can be salad, dessert, casserole, or whatever.

On 20 June, a Tuesday (not a Thursday), there will be another NRA presentation. Larry Wilson, a noted author of many fine gun books, will talk about his latest book about the guns of Bill Ruger. Mr. Ruger recently donated many of his personal firearms to the NRA Museum, and Larry "I take us on a special tour of the museum where the guns are on display.

Please note that there will be no meeting in July because of the two activities in June. Now we can all take a vacation in July and feel better knowing that we won't miss anything having to do with our VGCA.

EXCOM Meeting

The entire EXCOM met the first week of March. We are in the process of trying to change the Association from a for-profit organization to one that is not-for-profit. It will be a slow process, but it should happen. There are many pieces to the pie, and we are breaking new ground.

Ed Costello presented the proposed budget, and after discussing it, a budget for $33, 550 was approved. As has been stated before, there will no more spending of money without approval by the EXCOM. This also means that the days of somebody making a motion and having it immediately approved without discussion at a regularly scheduled meeting are things of the past.

To become a not-for-profit organization, many things have to mesh: the budget, the way we do our taxes, our Articles of Incorporation, our bylaws, and the way we approve the spending of our money. We are working with our CPA to get this done. As stated earlier, it will take time, but we are on the right track.

Secretary's Subtleties

We are getting better. There were no outbursts during the presentation, and I see enthusiasm in many of the silent majority. This shows in the fact that we have more volunteers than ever to  help at the show. Please do not make it a one-shot happening. It takes many people doing many things to make organizations like ours keep an even keel. Let's keep it up!!!

I have commented on some of the major things taking place. But please notice some of the small things. If you noted that the Officers left the front tables during the program, we did so to make it easier on the presenter. Too many times in the past, the presenter appeared to be tom between talking to the group and talking to the Officers. Now they can talk in one direction and focus their attention where it should be focused-at the membership as a whole, not to the four who sit up front.

President's Corner

I continue to be amazed at the cooperation and enthusiasm showed by our expanding membership. We have lots of help from many, and I expect this show (March 25-26) will be a great one. We have increased our advertising, and we already have lots of volunteers for gate security.  Mo Phillips and Roger Sherman will head the Judging Committee. In short, all we need is you .... so let's have all hands on deck for the show and upcoming fun things. We have three absolutely outstanding folks on the Board now. We have already had three EXCOM meetings, and much progress is being made on many fronts. We will keep you informed, and we will be having EXCOM meetings at the NRA Building in an effort to make them as accessible to the membership as possible. Thanks for all the kind words and support. See you at the show!!! Addison