Dude - hope ya'll have a great one!! I'm on the Seguin FNRA committee - ours is coming up August 9th, so we'll be keeping our fingers crossed that ya'll have a good one!! Would love to be there, but I'm saving up for the Colt, and don't want anything to tempt me until THAT is in my safe!
OMG!! No air conditioning!! The facility was NEVER designed for a banquet/auction!! One side of the "building" completely open! NO SODA!! The concession stand only sold beer (and eventually bottled water). I'm not a teetotaler, but my doctor thinks alcohol and my meds just don't mix! Good turnout, maybe 150-200 there. Sound system was the WORST! Could barely understand the fabulous speaker, Dr. Suzanna Gratia Hupp. If you don't know her story, look her up. A LOT of guns on the block...#1 was the "NRA Gun of The Year". A custom Colt 1911 with gold embellishments. It went for $3400 to one of the security guards/off duty policeman (are we paying these guys too much??)
I have no idea why the event was moved from the Pedrotti ranch to the National Shooting complex, but I doubt that they'll get half the number of attendees they had if it's held "outdoors" in July next year.
Damn, that sux! Have a feeling there's some committee members that are even more disappointed than you are - believe me, there's a LOT of blood, sweat and tears that go into puttin' one of those on! Hopefully we've got one of their committee members here that will be willing to give us some insight/feedback....
Okay guys....here's the deal as I've been given to understand it:
The event site was booked by the chairperson. It WILL be held in an air-conditioned venue next year! The security officer apparently bought the Kimber High Caliber to my contact's recollection - the Gun of The Year (Colt 45) went for about $4k.
Above numbers are off the top of my contacts' head as they're driving down the highway, but they're pretty sure they're right. If not, they'll let me know and I'll update. Don't have permission to reveal my source, so I won't - but I have no reason to doubt the info!
I worked on the Friends of NRA committee for a couple of years in Southern Nevada (Las Vegas). We had every gun dealer in town sponsor a table, we had a ton of donations from the community so that your "bucket ticket" actually had a chance of winning something, we would get upwards of 350 attendees at the banquet that was always held in one of the off-strip hotels.
I've given a card to the San Antonio committee volunteering for next year, if they need me.