July 1, 2007

Dear Members and Exhibitors,

A day after our 45th wedding anniversary and a few days before we fly to Las Vegas, I’m trying to relax, recuperate from another vacation and rest up for our new trip.  But business always beckons and time waits for no one, Saratoga in August is just a month away.

Cathy and I celebrated our anniversary together but alone.  We did nothing.  What a joy!  I even ran out of gas putting filets on the grill so didn’t even have to cook.  All the kids were busy and we just chilled out.  But, we did manage a full family vacation by renting a house on the seashore in Rockport, Mass.  Four days of walking shops and beaches were plenty to exhaust us old folks but the kids spent a few days more. Now we’re off for a week in Vegas and hope to come back richer and wiser.  Thank most of you for not sending me all your table money for the August show.  I’ll need it when we get back!

Our post card advertising is going out next week thanks to Denise and our girls.  Most of the other advertising is already in place and I hope this mailing gets out before we go so you folks will have plenty of time to plan on coming to our August 3, 4, 5 Saratoga Arms Fair.  A lot of regulars didn’t weather the March snowstorm and couldn’t make our last show so pent up desires are definitely there.  Please send in your applications now or your balances for this show.  Getting everything done prior to the event makes Cathy’s life much easier and lets us devote our time to making a better show instead of having to call people.

October 12, 13 & 14 will be our fall show date and we have again invited the Northeast Cutlery Collectors Association, NCCA, to our event, same time and details as last year.  Our flier is enclosed but we will not assign any specific table location for the October show until after our August Arms Fair.  Thereby giving table preference to those of you who are attending the summer event.

We have contracted for a Christmas-time show at the City Center and the dates are December 21, 22 & 23, 2007.  We have tentatively booked the ballroom at the Saratoga Hotel adjoining the City Center for a Christmas party and dinner on Saturday night, December 22nd.  We hope to make this an annual event with a small auction, good food and camaraderie, perhaps Santa Claus and a gala convention of our membership.  All details have not been fully worked out but will be forthcoming.  Please plan on attending as a NEACA member or as one’s guest.  We will refer to our December show as our NEACA Convention and special room rates are being discussed for Friday and Saturday.  We need about 30 or so rooms booked and 150 or more dinner guests to make it all plausible.  Always something new coming from our organization but you, the membership is what makes anything work.

And another new event is coming this September 7, 8 & 9, 2007 to Amsterdam, NY.  We have scheduled a show at the former Holiday Inn, now an America’s Best Value Inn at 10 Market Street; plenty of free parking, easy to get to, a special room rate and fine gun loving area.  The venue is actually in Pasqualli’s Restaurant and Conference Center, an area where we can accommodate about 50 tables.  The management and hotel are very happy to have us and are thrilled that we are bringing in a long overdue gun show.  They are also helping to promote this event in the local area.  Only two months away, flier enclosed, please add this to your things to do list.  For room reservations, please call early, about $50. a night, 518-843-5760 and mention the Gun Show.

Our NEACA.com website is still doing fine.  We are now getting over six million hits a month and 175,000 visits each month, that is over 4,000 people every day looking at our products or messages.  Very soon it will be time to expand the site so we can host member pages and advertising.  In the coming months we will devote our time to that endeavor and to our Saratoga Springs Arms Fairs.

After 45 years of marriage and 35 years of being in business together, Cathy and I have the urge to cut back somewhat and start enjoying those golden years.  Retirement is not in the immediate future but better time allotment certainly is.  So, we will continue to do our best in promoting the Saratoga Arms Fairs considered by many to be the premiere shows in the northeast; work on our Convention idea to grow our membership and remain a leader in our business, and to maintain and innovate our web presence to provide for ourselves and our members.

Among those plans we would also like to sell our four story brick building in Mechanicville.  Our Otis elevator services four floors with 3,000 square feet of space each and we have both a Main Street location and one adjacent to the Champlain Canal.  For younger folks there are still a lot of growth opportunities here.  Our market price will be around $550,000.  We have several other locations for us to remain in the gun business but we really don’t need 12,000 square feet to maintain.  Anyone looking for a new future let us know.

We’ll also have a new sale at our store this August 9, 10 & 11 just to keep pecking away at our over sized inventory.  We’ll probably have a flier at the August show.  With that we’ve got to start packing for Vegas, please remember I’ll need money on our return.  Send in your table applications and check the mailing label for membership expiration.  Have a very pleasant summer and see you in Saratoga.

Sincerely,

Cathy & Dave Petronis