April 20, 2014

Members, Exhibitors, Friends,

Cathy and I hope you all had a very happy Easter. There is a lot to digest in this letter and from Easter dinner. Later on I’ll be fat and happy after our own Easter ham but so far on this great sunny, Sunday morning I’m just happy! Happy that it is finally warm and sunny, happy to see the calmness of our ever flowing Hudson River while penning this, and just happy to be alive and still be able to do what I do.

This time of year to me is like a renewal, a time of energized freshness and for Cathy and I, an anniversary of when we first met; just about 54 years ago. Together we’ve watched a lot of that Hudson water flow by; a million memories along with the flow, most great some not so. Paired with personal remembrances this morning I also have time for a little work so I’m going to relate how we’ve been very busy lately trying to organize our show schedule.

However, I find myself in a quandary; jubilant about finally locating a suitable place in Newburgh for a gun show but at the same time a feeling of disappointment by the reaction, or I should say inaction, of some of our current NEACA dealers. Some aren’t as thrilled as I anticipated. Years ago, my friends, the Newburgh show held on the third weekend of May, was THE SHOW to look forward to. Our last show at the Newburgh Armory was 20 years ago and they were very good shows. Every dealer worth their salt went to Newburgh, first run by the Lions Club and later by Cathy and me.

Perhaps my disappointment in some of these dealers could be because most of the current crop weren’t even around for shows twenty years ago; now these dealers only know Middletown, a show that kind of took up the slack when the Newburgh Armory stopped renting out for events. Well, Middletown aside, Newburgh is back; and the venue is terrific. With no ice at Ice Time Sports Complex there’s only a great place to have our revived Newburgh Gun Shows!

We were very fortunate to find this complex; actually pointed out to us by the manager of the Kiwanis Ice Rink in Saugerties, where we just finished arrangement for a show there on June *13, 14, 15.He told us about the same type of operation as theirs, over in Newburgh but larger. Each venue is very similar in that they are ice rinks without the ice in summer and can accommodate about 200 tables. Both have plenty of free parking and are easy to get to.Each has free WI-Fi, an ATM and great lighting with easy loading. Our first official NEACA spring event is at the Newburgh Ice Time Arena and is the same time period as when we ran this show twenty years ago; the third weekend in May, this time it is May *16, 17, 18.It is also the same time as we were going to have our Lake George Forum gun show, which so many of you fellows kept asking me about. I told you all to keep that date open; either for Lake George or something else. Well, now we have the date and a better venue which will be a great show; a flier with details is enclosed. Call the Newburgh Comfort Inn at 845-567-0567 for a $99. "Ice Time Gun Show" rate and do it now or you won’t find a room!A floor plan is also posted on our NEACA web on the Gun Show page so you can see our proposed lay-out.

The Saugerties, NY, Kiwanis Ice Rink show flier is also enclosed but hotel rooms are scarce in the summer; lots of activities in the area and a nice place to visit. Our show there is June *13, 14, 15 and already a lot of local exhibitors have asked for fliers. Send your application in soon and if you need a room try Kingston to the south or Catskill to the north, each about 15 to 20 minutes away via NYS Thruway, another exciting place for our NEACA Show.

I said we’ve been busy and nestled between each of those new events we have two more. On May *30, 31, June 1 we are pleased to announce our show at the Chenango County Fairgrounds, within the Exhibition Hall, in Norwich, NY. This is pretty much virgin territory and in the middle of some very big dairy farms and gun country! Norwich is a great little city situated in the middle of a triangle made by Albany, Binghamton and Syracuse.

Route 12 becomes Main Street from the north while Route 23 West runs about a block north of the Fairgrounds, then dissecting Route 12. Route 81 and Route 88 are main arterials which lead to roads to Norwich. Colgate University is just north in the town of Hamilton and Cooperstown is to the east so there is lots of summer activity in and around the city. The Exhibition Hall is not the best of venues but upwards of 50,000 folks come to the fair each year and it is also host to Car and Antique Shows which do quite well. Cathy and I think this will be a great show so call the Norwich Super 8 Motel for a special "gun show rate" of $80 immediately if you need a room; 607-336-8880.Our flier is also enclosed.

Years ago we ran a show in Herkimer, NY at the VFW Post #4915, which is basically in the downtown area. It was small, about 50 tables, which we did as a two day event. We are back but for a Saturday only show on June 7, with Friday set up and open for a few hours Friday evening. The auxiliary will have a great snack bar. Best hotel will be the Herkimer motel but pricey. Remington Arms Company and Museum is a few miles east in Ilion and most folks in the show area work there and bring in their guns to sell or trade. Nice little show and back on our schedule; again, flier is enclosed.

For August we have already told you about Old Forge on August *1, 2, 3 at the Hiltebrant Recreation Center, also of Saratoga Springs at the City Center on August *22, 23, 24 and have presented these fliers to exhibitors who were at our March Saratoga Show. You can download any of our fliers from our gun show page at NEACA.com for details or pick one up at any of our shows. For both of these I urge you to make your motel reservations early.

Folks have been asking me for a show on Labor Day weekend and we have scheduled one in Newburgh again at Ice Time on August *29, 30, 31 with Labor Day that Monday, September 1st. I think it will be a great event on a really unused time period. Last fling weekend before readying for the school year, a few weeks before hunting seasons open and usually the beginning of that nip in the air, which stirs the male instinct to buy guns! Again, we’re looking forward to these Newburgh Gun Shows and all the other events we have worked out for our NEACA members and exhibitors.

And we are working on more! However, we have made an error on what we thought was to be a good show in Watertown, NY. I put out the date of August *8, 9, 10 but there seems to be some difficulty now with that show; we will advise you of its progress, in the mean time, the show is on hold and we are looking at a new date. Hey, even the best of us make an occasional error, that’s why the eraser was invented!

In all, so far we have a good schedule and are working on the rest of 2014 and the future. But, please take this to heart; the first Newburgh show to be scheduled in years is only a month away. We plan on getting the people to the show and we want them coming to a full 225 table event of good gun dealers. I’ve already turned down dealers with items that I’ve deemed as inappropriate for a gun show. We are spending lots of time and money on this show and we hope you all will realize that Newburgh is only one hour north of ten million people; another million are within a 25 mile radius and the show is so easy to get to it’s scary! We are asking all of you to send your applications in today so we can use this new show to kick off the rest of our great summer 2014 schedule right through Labor Day!

Thanks to you all, Cathy & Dave