May 7, 2018

NEACA Members and Exhibitors,

To all of you who have asked how I am feeling, let me say thank you for your concern and reply that physically I think I am pretty good after my elective quintuple bypass surgery about six weeks ago. However, mentally, I feel run over by a truck and stomped on by a mean herd of anti-gun nut cases. It seems our 2018 Show Schedule has changed weekly – hard for me to keep up the pace!

Betwixt a long needle being inserted in my back between my ribs and into a cavity of fluid surrounding my left lung and draining about quart of dark bile – that was fun – to being derided by antis claiming me as a racist homophobe in Clinton, NY and then being denied our Manchester Center Riley Rink Venue in Vermont – there comes a time that tries a man’s soul. This business used to be fun, it surely isn’t any more. Cathy and I really need your help and full support if we are going to weather this storm of liberal hate of guns and our shows.

What may very well be our final Saratoga Springs City Center Arms Fair is coming up this Memorial Day weekend – the holiday name fits the event perfectly – a memorial to nearly 40 years of Cathy and I promoting shows. Perhaps in the future, when Hell freezes over and Republicans regain Saratoga City leadership, the law banning firearms and ammo sales from city property will be rescinded; probably too long for yours truly to wait.

We need your help to fill these tables, please send in an application with money to off set the twelve thousand or so dollars we have paid upfront to run this event. We even had to pay our security during the show 30 days in advance. That added to the many thousands we layout in deposits to other venues, insurance and advertising – all this in advance of you setting up your wares on particular Friday afternoons. Nothing is free.

We have heard from many people who plan to attend the Saratoga Show that they no longer will visit or spendmoney in the City – the key point being they will be coming to support this show. Cathy constantly updates the thousands of names, addresses and emails of our show attendees and tries to keep up the membership renewals – but she is exhausted and things fall behind at times. Taking care of me, this huge house, plus constant show advertising, all has taken its toll on her. A lot of NEACA memberships were up on April 1st – quite a few still need to come in – check your mailing label for your expiration date. NEACA still has plenty of shows to produce so keep the faith! Don’t forget to post our Gun show fliers at your clubs.

Nearly 7,000 supporters of our shows and our Second Amendment showed up several years ago when Saratoga was threatened with extinction -- we need that support again this Memorial Day Weekend and Cathy and I will promote it vigorously. There doesn’t seem to be a shortage of hotel rooms and we know the Comfort Inn near the Golden Corral in Wilton, Exit 15 of the Northway, is around $99. Call 518-587-1065 or see our entire motel list on our gun show page of NEACA.com. Call us too, we really need your support; we had 214 tables sold last year, we can do better – room for 250! Our shop phone is 518-664-9743 – leave a message.

Well, they still want us in Fishkill, NY and we have our next show there on June *15, 16, 17; again note a date change from the first weekend to the third. Because of lost venues and various reasons, in Norwich, Clinton and Saugerties in June, we decided to get Fishkill off of Springfield, MA weekend to a lesser used date – therefore the change. The flier is enclosed and we are already on our way to selling the 100 or so tables. Many thanks to Paul and Andrea Ackermann for stepping up and doing a terrific job of running or last Fishkill Show – full show, people made money! The way things are supposed to be.

They also want us in Rutland, VT and the following weekend we will again be at the Vermont State Fairgrounds in the renovated Ice Rink on June *22, 23, 24 with 150 – 200 tables to fill. We’re checking motels for rates, watch our website. Two more scheduled there this year including one during the Fair the third week in August. We still need to finalize some details and a flier will be on the web.

Last year was our first show in Watertown at the Alex Duffy Fairgrounds and the venue was great and the show went well. Room for lots of tables and there is plenty of public to draw from, including 50,000 service men and women at Fort Drum who we let in Free! Great time for an Adirondack vacation, July *27, 28, 29 and we have our Old Forge Gun Show the following week on August *3, 4 & 5 at the Hiltebrant Rec. Center. Always a fun time among the friendly deer wandering the town. Need to order tables, let us know who is coming.

Bass Masters Elite Series 17 brought around 35,000 people to the little town of Waddington, NY nestled on the St Lawrence Seaway between Massena and Ogdensburg. Along with free concerts and fireworks at what they call Party in the Park and with our new 30,000 sq. ft. gun show exhibit space in the Don Martin Civic Center, we hope to top 40,000 sports minded people this year! We are not affiliated with Bass Masters Elite Series 2018 but they will be in close proximity to our show and setting up Tuesday and Wednesday for their fishing tournament running to Sunday. A hundred tents of food, entertainment and exhibitors will be set up in the park next door. Our 250 table, gun, knife and militaria expo will be in the Civic Center and you can set up on Wednesday or Friday because our show will run 4 days, Thursday through Sunday. Same table price for any time period plus we have booth space on the walls. See our enclosed flier for details and get your motel room now!

Call the Super 8 in Massena at 315-764-1065 before June 30, for a best rate of $77 a night booking 4 nights or $79 a night for 2 nights. Call after that and rooms will not exist. Don’t wait!

Today our culture, heritage and yes, gun shows are under attack like never before. Don’t kid yourself that our Second Amendment couldn’t slip away as we know it. This November voting season is going to be one of the most important in decades. We do have Trump but he can’t fully help this country without a friendly Congress. Get your family, friends and neighbors registered to vote and get all who we can to the polls this November. Peck away now to find out who needs to be pushed later.

You know the Commies have their five and fifty-year plans – and they are slowly winning as we sit idly by and cook in the slow heat. We have to change and look far down the road; and wonder is ours the last generation of Americans who know our history? Are these young kids who scream “we must do something” about guns, going to rule these states in 20 years? Will they mellow and learn what it means to be an American?

We used to have a melting pot where all who yearn to be free also learned about America. Today we have diversity run amuck and political correctness destroying our heritage. Cathy ad I will keep our part of the bargain of promoting our shows, finding new venues, keeping our Second Amendment in the forefront – but everyone of you must help us along the way. After 40 years we’re getting old and slowing down. We have put a lifetime into this business and yet everyday it feels we are starting over. We do need applications sent in with money, we need memberships renewed, we need your continued support and we all need each other’s prayers. May God bless this America.

Sincerely, Cathy & Dave