Being a former member of the LCSGCA and having participated in the tryouts for the team at the Southern three years ago was an experience of a lifetime for me. The discussions of doing away with the Smith V. Parker challenge would be something that would highly disappoint me. I am no longer a member but that is due to my laziness and nothing else. Having met many friends at the Challenge three years ago including but not limited to Tom Archer, Frank Finch and Skip Dunlap just to name a few has made unforgetable memories as well as that Deluxe Grade of Frank's that I have a picture with.
The week after the Challenge I had the opportunity to serve on a committee that puts together a sporting clays event to benefit the Pine Burr Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America. Rick Hemingway setup the course for us and on the night before he and I happened up on the fact that he was at the Challenge the previous weekend. We were going through the Sporting Clays Course that he setup for our benefit tournament that day.
The Southern Side by Side and the Smith Parker Challenge is something that people talk about that is spread far and wide. I would hate to see the event changed in any way. I still read the various magazines that I subscribed to at the Southern and the most important reason that I drove from South Mississippi was to participate in the tryouts for the Challenge.
Mr. Archer, I do appreciate the time that you spend to put the Challenge together and hope that your are not discouraged in any way by some of the discussions. I relish the fact that when people find out that I own two LC Smith guns that we can spend many hours discussing the guns and what they have meant to us over the years.
To all my friends at the LCSGCA please do not give up the fight, IT IS ALL FOR FUN.