No one here knows me personally, and I can count on one hand the number of members I’ve spoken with. As the new “owner” I think it is fair to give the membership a bit of my back ground.
I am 77 years old, and retired from US WEST Dex. Both my wife Marilyn (a retired phycologist) and I have been married once before. Between us we have six children, thirteen grandchildren, and four great grandchildren.
Hobby wise, I’ve been a licensed amateur radio operator since 1970. My call sign is KØBG. That interest was enhanced by operating from my vehicle, while traveling for my employer. That resulted in my other web site,
www.k0bg.com which has been live since 2004.
My interest in hunting and fishing comes from the fact I literally grew up in a sporting goods store in Kansas City, MO. The last of four boys (read that as the baby of the family!), my father doted on me, by taking me everywhere one can imagine to hunt and fish. By the time I was about fourteen, I owned several firearms. One of those was a custom-build 22-250 (then a wildcat), based around an FN Mauser action. That rifle peaked my interest in varmint hunting, a love I still yearn for.
My interest in airguns started about 1950. I can’t tell you what model Benjamin it was, except that it was a .22 caliber, and you pumped it. I’d sure like to have that one back in my hands. Then about 5 years ago, I bought a Crosman PA77, only because the price was right. $49 as I recall. I didn’t do much to it, other than install a red dot scope. I gave it to Monkeydad as he has a use for it.
Afterward, I’ve purchased about ten airguns (more on those later), on the path to learning the ropes so to speak. Some of those airguns, including my favorite .25 caliber W.A.R. Cobra, came from Travis Whitney. And that fact got me here, on the Guild!
As we all know, Travis Whitney started this web site as a way to share his expert knowledge about all things using compressed air. Along the way, he brought in other experts, almost too numerous to mention. They include, but are not limited to, Steveoh (our dedicated web master, for whom I have great adoration), Bob Sterne, Hajimoto, Shooter1721, and quite obviously, Travis himself! I wish I knew everyone, but alas I am diminished, so please do not feel slighted if I didn’t mention a special someone.
The point of all of this, is an effort on my part to foster more membership and posting activity. I’ve thought of many ways to do so, and one of those is to offer the membership a prize. How they’ll win the prize is still a up in the air (no pun intended), as there are legal entanglements which need to be ironed out. But just to whet one’s appetite, it will be one of the new (soon available) Benjamin Fortitudes. Once we get the details ironed out, there will be an announcement made in the “Items for sale” section of this web site. So please stay tuned.
Besides the help from all of the members, I be remiss if I didn’t mention our sponsors; Marmot Militia, J. S. Air Rifles, Windmeister, Wicked Air Rifles, JBS, and Neil Claque. If I missed anyone, I apologize. I thank each any everyone. May we all learn from one another to the betterment of the hobby.
Alan Applegate
