Cookies! (Courtesy of Dr.Workmans daughter)
At the Saturday morning (8am) annual meeting of the Randall Knife Collectors Club. I have no exact figure on attendance, but a pretty good turnout. As always, Scott Maynard led us in prayer, there was news from the President (the good Capt), news from the shop, and an excellent presentation on the charity the RKCC has chosen to support.
Becky Caruso gave a great talk about the very humble beginnings and how it has so quickly grown, and I speak from personal experience when I tell you it's a great cause. When soldiers deploy to hostile areas, many do not have the benefits of living on a "Foward operating base". Often there are scouts, observers, intelligence gatherers, and a full gamut of jobs requiring them to be on their own, self sufficient without a roof, running water, and so many amenities we take for granted daily. This is the target group of soldiers this great program aims to support. In 2004 it was a very common occurrence for myself and 8-11 other men with me to operate "outside the wire" for up to 8 days at a time. The charity is called J.O.S.H (just our soldiers helpers) and I hope James and Becky will chime in with more details. They've already shipped hundreds (if not a thousand or so) boxes of basic need items, I would guess like toothbrushes, toothpaste, beek jerky, hand sanitizer, etc, etc. and I see this as something great to get behind. Postage is awful! Bo Randall was all about supporting the American fighting man and I'm sure we all are too!
As you can read in the newsletter, (if you don't have one, you will soon) a memorial fund raiser, supported by a raffle has been instituted to create a memorial fund in the name of Suzanne Lambert, to support the program J.O.S.H.
You can bet your bottom dollar Kenny Lambert loves his wife with every bit of his heart, and she is dearly missed by all who knew her. Recently other members have passed, Ed Giles, Cal Barnlund, Alvin Hightower, and a little further back, Randall giants like Perry Miller and Rhett Stidham. I apoligize in advance for anyone I've missed. This memorial will help keep the memory of our lost friends and family, while supporting brave men and women who put their lives on the line without question or reserve for the love of the soldier in the foxhole next to them and for freedom and the American way. No greater love!
There were also several drawings, everything from RKCC coffee cups to one lucky lady who took home a brand new Copper Companion! I even won an A.G. Russell knife that his company produced as gifts for all the Randall shop employees this past Christmas. (Am I an honorary employee now???)