V.G.C.A. NEWS October, 2002

General
There was no Newsletter in September due to the date of the show. It was just not possible to get one out and in your hands before the show.


August Meeting
Once again we bad a fantastic presentation as part of the NRA-VGCA joint presentation series. Mñ. George C. Neumann bad the audience in his grasp; and-the audience did not want to let him go. After an hour-and-a-half we still wanted more. What is even more remarkable is his presentation did not include a single gun that we could look at. He gave us a history lesson about the Revolutionary War period and taught us about flintlocks, the ammunition of the time, tactics, some of the battles, the training of the Army by Von Steuben, the politics of the time, and George Washington.

Mr. Neumann is an accomplished and exciting author and speaker and true American. More than a few people in the crowd became misty eyed toward the end because of comments like: "American history is who we are and what we stand for." The best was:
"Never allow your children and your grandchildren to forget You are an-American."


Show and Tell
I started it off by showing a little Belgian-made (1880 timeframe) 2mm pinfire pistol that I carry in an aspirin tin. Jim Burgess showed a Revolutionary War .58 cal. Pistol with British proofs. Bob Willard bad an interesting Danish Rolling Block 1867 Carbine that is part of the initial order from Remington.

Kelly Cook then took the floor with his Winchester Model 52B Target Rifle, and Larry
Hare told us about his German .22 cal. Training Rifle, which is an early 1933 Simpson.
Shelly Fischman shared his Sauer Model 1913 that can be traced to the 158th German
Regiment and the 2nd Company of the 12th Regiment. The pistol probably saw service in
Alsace-Lorraine; Liege in 1914; and the battles of the Somme, Marne, and Verdun.

Bill Edwards finished up by telling us about Honore Blanc's tools, how he impressed Thomas Jefferson, and how Blanc and his staff helped start the Springfield Armory.


Business Meeting
The business side of the meeting primarily concerned the gun show. Phil Hill gave an update on the tables and what the committees would do and again mentioned the increase in the prize money mentioned in the last Newsletter.

The same member who suggested an increase in the prize money wanted to know why the increase was not discussed at a monthly meeting. Phil answered that the suggestion was made, the Executive Committee (EXCOM) and Show Committee talked about it, and the EXCOM approved it.

Addison then reported on spending $600.00 of the Association's money to wire Hugo's for use by the State Police at our gun shows. We spent it but may never get to use what it was spent for because the State Police sends its officers to shows based on the amount of call-in traffic generated. Since so many of our table renters are true collectors, not FFL holders, we will probably never generate enough call-ins at our shows.

Two new members were accepted into the organization: R. James Huber who was sponsored by Jim Morris and Conrad Vena who was sponsored by Addison Hurst.


Next Meeting
Please remember that our meetings are held on the fourth Thursday of the month, not the last Thursday. The next one will be at 7p.m. on 24 October. It will be another NRA-VGCA joint meeting. The speaker will be Jim Dunham a historian of the Old West. Jim will be in period dress and will talk about the Old West and demonstrate quick-draw techniques. Bring your Old West guns for Show and TelL


Gun Show
We had another well-nm, well-attended, and tightly controlled show. There were 1,872 people who paid to get in, which was down a bit from the 2.000(+) who attended the show in March. The total was exceptional when you consider a competing show in the area, a big show in Hampton, the VSSA annual meeting and weekend, an antique collectors club meeting, and the Civil War reenactment at Antietam with 15,000 in uniform and 100,000 attendees.

We had a good turnout as as volunteers are concerned. Once again, Bill York and Peter Kuck drove down from Connecticut to help, and they brought two others with them. They all did yeoman work on the Security and Safety Committees. The people helping to keep the guns tied got a new nickname during the show. The "Tie Nazis" were everywhere helping the table renters keep the guns tied. I'll tell you, the name was given in jest, but everyone of them did a great job. It is almost impossible for the Table Renters to keep their eyes on all of their guns when customers cut ties without asking and walk away. If the "Tie Nazis" kept just one gun from being illegally loaded, they were worth their weight in gold.

Many people deserve plaudits for the success of the show, but standing out were Gary Holderman, Jim Burgess, and Phil HilL The people who sleep there for two nights should also be singled out: Ed Costello, Gary Holderman, Bill York, and Peter Kuck. I know there were others, but I don't have their names.

I am glad to report that there were plenty of people helping at cleanup time. They worked so hard and so fast that they were always ahead of the table renters. They were always ahead of me, and I apologize for being one of the last four to leave, but I could not get anything into my van for the first 20 minutes alter the show because I was blocked in. So were a few others. People who were involved in safety, security, setup, and takedown, not necessarily in that order were: Richard Baker, Gary Holderman, Ben Sims, Lee Turner, Jim Burgess, Larry Hare, Joe Cusumano, Vernon Cochrane, Bill Craig, Hal Romberg, Tom McMichael John Frietsch Maggie Turner, Bernie Malo, Dustin Smith, Chris Olsen, Bill Michael, Larry O'Conner, Courtney Hunsberger, King von Schilling, Kelly Cook, Bill Cleveland, Jeff Heflin, Nick Heflin, Julian Aylow, Jeff Perkins, Harry Andrie, Carrol Clark, Art Shingler, Ernie Lyles, Con Rice, Scott Benedict, Karl Karash, Bill York, Ed Tytor, Carl Warhurst, Arthur Capam, Larry Cooley, Travis Jones, and a few people whose names were undecipherable.

Awards. The displays were fabulous. First Place went to Frank Lindsey for "Evolution of USMC Sniper Rifles and Telescopic Sights." Second Place went to John Gebhardt for "Outfitting the Japanese Soldier of World War II." Even the eyeglasses on the mannequin were Japanese Army issue. Third Place west to Phil Hill for "Engraved Colt Single Action Army's."

In addition, the judges gave out two Judges Choice awards. The first award went to Pete Roberts for "Triple Locks of Smith and Wesson" and the Second Judges Choice Award went to Jim Landers for "Multiple-Barrel Muzzle Load‰rs."


Coming Event
Allan Cors has again invited all VGCA members to the show at his Tank Farm on Saturday, 5 October. The Garand Collectors Association will be there as part of its Annual Meeting. There will be a mini gun show and displays starting at 10 a.m. The Tank Farm presentation will start at 1 p.m. I may be off a bit on the times, so please check the Internet at vmmv.org for specifics.


NRA Museum
The display "Real Guns of the Reel Heroes" has been extended and will be there until the end of the calendar year. There are 89 items in the display, which is well worth the time and effort to go see.


Secretary's Subtleties
Something said at the last meeting did more than disturb me just a little bit. One of the members made a comment about the "Secret Seven" who came up with the new prize-money rate increases. Folks, there is no Secret Seven running the VGCA. The EXCOM is made up of seven individuals who are duly elected by the membership. The suggestion for the increase was made at the previous meeting, and it was accomplished. There was nothing secret about it.

Since the present officers were elected every EXCOM meeting has been reported upon in the Newsletter. Every penny is accounted for, the budget is presented annually, and not one cent is spent based on anybody's whim. Everything is above board and to suggest otherwise is an insult to each member of the EXCOM and the lawyer and CPA advisors.

To show the openness, Addison stood up and told the membership about spending $600.00 based on the facts as we knew them at the time. The EXCOM, not Addison alone, voted to spend the money. If Addison had not stood up at the meeting and said what he said, nobody in the organization would be the wiser. Folks, this act alone shows that there is no so-called Secret Seven running the VGCA and the seven non-secret elected members do not hide anything, either individually or as a group.


President's Corner
I want to thank everyone who helped make the show another success. We had the usual helpers; the Connecticut Maryland, and North Carolina members; and a lot of new local help. Mike's list includes many longtime members who found the time to help and many newer members. You people are just as instrumental in making the show a success as are the table renters who present their guns and gun-related items for sale.

The paid uniformed security guards were once again a big help, and we will continue to use them. We had at least one from the last show, and they all quickly became a part of the team when they realized that they were not alone and had the support of the VGCA. Each member of the EXCOM introduced themselves to at least one of the guards to make the guards feel welcome and to show our support for what we hired them to do.

It's also getting to be time for the election of the three Board Members who, with the four elected Officers, comprise your Executive Committee. I will appoint a Nominating Committee in October. They will present a three-member slate at the meeting on the first Thursday in December. The combined November-December meeting is always the first Thursday in December. Nominations will then be taken from the floor, and we will have a mail-in ballot as specified in the VGCA By-Laws. Please plan on attending that meeting. Scott Meadows, the well-known author and .45 expert, is scheduled to present the third NRA-VGCA joint program of the year.

There were a few comments as to why we scheduled our show for a weekend in which there were so many competing activities. The answer is that we schedule according to when Hugo's is available to us. Also, the VGCA cannot satisfy every other organization in accordance with all the other schedules, and we cannot wait for them to confirm their respective schedules before we schedule a show. Many VGCA members are VSSA members and would like to attend the great annual meetings held by the VSSA, and some do. Some of our members attended the Civil War reenactment, and that's all right too. As much as we would like to, we just cannot be everything to everybody.

Lastly, there is no Secret Seven in this organization. I won't allow it. Once again, my thanks to all -- Addison