The Fourth Quarter 2009 LOCKED AND LOADED …

The 2009 RSA annual seminar is just a pleasant memory
now, but what a seminar it was! 52 members and guests
gathered at the Remington plant
in Ilion for the three day event, which
was the largest participation for any
RSA seminar to date. 7 attendees were
there who were also at the first RSA
seminar which was held in Ilion in 1994.
Alice Oeschger co-hosted the seminar
and coordinated the ladies’ outings.
Fred Supry arranged for us to be able
to hold the meetings at the Armory and
he and Dennis Sanita were our
Remington Arms Company representatives
for the week. They have been our
gracious hosts for every RSA seminar
held in Ilion starting with the first one.

The seminar started with
Wednesday afternoon registration
where each participant’s welcome
package included a special seminar RSA t-shirt (edition limited
to 2009 seminar attendees) and a pair of RSA koozies. Fred
spoke at our opening night dinner and extended Remington’s
welcome to our group. Thursday’s agenda included several
historical presentations and a tour of the factory and the
Custom Shop, and an opportunity to visit the Museum. It

ended with a road trip to the site of the original Remington
forge where Roy Marcot gave a presentation on the Old Forge
and the family’s various houses. Friday
was taken up with additional historical
presentations.

Andy Anderson presented a display
of Remington side-by-side shotguns
which included excellent examples of
each grade of the Model 1889 shotgun
and he gave a presentation using his
guns for illustration. Garland Jackson
had a display of high grade Whitmore
shotguns and he also made a presentation
on his display. Roy Marcot gave a
presentation on “Engraved Remington
No. 1 Sporting and Target Rifles”, Jay
Huber brought his prototype Hepburn
patent side-by-side shotgun, and Bill
Hanson enlightened us on the
“Remington .303 British Springfield”
and displayed associated documents.

Mark Eddy (RSA member and Remington’s Senior Quality Control Engineer) talked to us about “H&R Manufacture in Ilion by Remington” subsequent to the Marlin acquisition and brought interesting samples for us to handle and

examine. I believe that will result in some sales for Remington.
Gene Myszkowski’s presentation informed us regarding “Is
Your Engraved Remington Rifle or Shotgun Factory Work?”
Gordon Fosburg and Rich Shepler teamed up to provide a
survey of known “Remington Firearms Price Lists 1854 –
1984”, and Rich gave a presentation on the “Remington

Agricultural Works”. Both of those presentations were accompanied by lengthy handouts for attendees. Steve Perniciaro,
Remington’s Manager of New Products, gave a presentation on several new Remington products and the new product
development and approval process. He also passed around samples for all to examine.

A number of people displayed Remington items and
several offered material for sale. Alice Oeschger led many of our
guests on an outing for lunch and a cruise on a portion of the
Erie Canal which included a ride up and down Lock 17 at Little
Falls, the highest operating canal lock in the world. Raffle and
auction fund raising activities were both fun and raised a
goodly amount of money to help cover RSA’s expenses for
other activities during the year. All participants ended up with

something nice. Folks enjoyed discounts at
the Remington Country Store and many
bought Remington logo merchandise.
Wednesday’s opening and Friday’s closing
dinners were held at the recently opened
Francesca’s Banquet Hall. The venue was
excellent for us and the buffet selections were
numerous, plentiful and delicious. On Friday
evening we called the restaurant staff out for
a hearty round of applause for the excellent
job they did.

Though the seminar officially ended
with Friday night’s banquet, 17 people
participated in a caravan driving tour Saturday
morning to Remington related sites in the
area. The tour was based on research and
directions done by Mark Eddy, and included a
unique opportunity obtained for us by Mark’s
wife, Leslie. She arranged for the group to not
only gain admittance to Philo Remington’s
mansion stables (owned and maintained by
the Ilion Little Theater Group since 1924), but
we were able to inspect both the basement where horses were
stabled and the second floor which during the Remington
period was home to the stable hands. Those areas are never
open to the public. The tour also included visits to a home in
Mohawk which was built with stone from Philo’s mansion, the
Remington homestead (Eliphalet I’s home) where the current
residents invited us in to see the inside, and the Remington
family plots in Ilion’s Armory Cemetery. The group got to see a
portion of the original stone walls and to walk the tow path of
the raceway which brought water from Weber’s Pond to the
Armory for its initial power in 1828. We also did drive-bys of
several additional interesting Remington related sites.

It was a great seminar and several first timers commented that, had they known the RSA annual seminars were so much fun and so interesting, they would have started to attend them earlier. Those who missed it missed a terrific time. But you do not need to miss the next one! The 2010 RSA Annual Seminar will be held in Tucson, Arizona, 29 September – 1 October. Weather there will be beautiful that time of year. Mark your calendars and start planning now. Watch for details in the first quarter 2010 Journal.

Finally, there is an important insert in this Journal. Please take the time to vote in our elections and, if you
are an annual member, remember that your dues should be submitted by year end. Send them in now while you are thinking about it so you won’t forget!