The Second Rem-Thoughts… RSA President Roy Marcot 2012

As I sit here collecting my thoughts I am reminded of the great amount of work put in by our Journal staff, and by our officers and leaders. I believe that few of our members realize the amount of work that goes into running this organization, by a 100% voluntary force of dedicated individuals. I’m going to take this opportunity to tell you about
some of them, and what their effort and dedication means to me. Each are mentioned randomly.

Bill Hanson stepped up yo the plate about eighteen months ago when then President Richard Shepler asked him to take over for the outgoing RSA Treasurer. It didn’t take long for Bill to realize that he could do his job easier and better if he also took on the RSA Secretary duties and responsibilities. Bill, if you don’t know him, is a detail oriented person… perfect for the job at hand. There is not one element of his job that he has not handled to perfection. It pleases me to no end that he is my right arm in this growing organization. He is also a member of the Remington Research Team.

David Fagan came into view more than ten years ago when he volunteered to take our fledgling RSA Website and turn it into one of the finest club websites in existence today. His success can be measured by the number of “visitors” our site receives… more than a million each year, and growing. A while back David was elected RSA Vice President, but his true value to our club is his daily management oversight of our website. If you haven’t seen it lately go to www.RemingtonSociety.com and enjoy the historical information posted there and the popular RSA Forum.

Mike Strietbeck became RemShots when Ol’ RemShots, Leon Wier asked him to take over. For those of you who had the pleasure of knowing Leon, you know that no one could say no to that fine individual. So Mike said “yes” and thus began his long days and endless nights writing the RemShots column for the magazine and answering hundreds of inquiries received over the phone and Internet. Never once did I hear Mike complain, as he had made a promise to Leon. Besides his official duties, Mike became my closest and most trusted friend in the organization.

I have known Gordon Fosburg for almost twenty-five years. In that time he has served as RSA Secretary/Treasurer and RSA Director. Currently he maintains our inventory of past Journal issues and fulfills orders when they come in. Many of you don’t know that Gordon is our “go-to guy” on any question regarding Remington advertising. He willingly researches every topic we give him, and maintains the largest and most complete collection of Remington advertising and advertising art ever assembled. Just recently Gordon was elected elected to the RSA Roll of Honor – to which he justly deserves.

Ed Hull has been active in RSA leadership for twenty years, and is a past RSA Director… and our current Remington Book Reviewer who writes a Journal column every quarter. Many of you know that Ed is an excellent researcher and writer, having penned many gun-related articles for us and for other gun-related magazines. He is an authority on the early
development of the “rolling block” action, and is a published author on Peabody firearms and products of the Providence Tool Company. Ed has helped the RSA out in too many ways to repeat here.

Richard Shepler is our immediate Past-President, and was our RSA Historical Seminar
Coordinator for many years. Only someone like Fritz Baehr, Gordon Stanley, George Slatten or myself would know the amount of work that goes into being an RSA President… a job that Rich did exceedingly well for many years. He originated one of our magazine’s most popular features, “Remington – Knives That Bite,” several years back after it was realized how many knife collectors were in our ranks. His column is repeated in the official publication that Remington Arms Company puts
out, attesting to the quality of his research and writing.

Mark Eddy “bleeds Remington green,” which means that he loves the Remington organization and its fruitful heritage. He works full time as a quality control specialist at “The Arms” in Ilion, and pens the popular RemFacts column in our magazine. RemFacts is to Remington history, as RemShots is to Remington firearms products. The two columns compliment each other extremely well in every issue. Mark is “our man in Ilion” and preserves history at every turn.

Billy Smith is one of the “new kids on the block” as far as RSA leaders are concerned. He came to me in 2006, asking to become a Research Team Member. I explained that to be considered one must first be a recognized authority on a particular Remington topic, and then work for the RSA. Billy responded by representing the RSA at the 2007 NRA Convention with an outstanding display of Model 600 rifles! He soon was on the team and started volunteering for RSA projects, including RSA Merchandise Manager. Later he ran for and was elected as our youngest RSA Director, a position he continues to hold. Just last month he again represented the organization with a new exhibit at the NRA Member’s Convention.

I have run out of print space… with many more RSA leaders, past leaders, historians and people to mention. OK, then, more next issue…