Northern Friends of NRA banquet recap

Media Relations intern Kyle and I experienced the Northern Virginia Friends of the NRA Banquet last night at the Waterford in Fairfax, Va. Kyle has been with us three weeks, and this was one of his first opportunities to see a program up close and personal.

Peter and Helen Evans sat with us. Helen was the first attendance prize winner of the evening, but the luck did not continue to the raffles — even though the Evans bought their fare share of tickets. Helen and Kyle are pictured below.

NRA Field Representative Bob Hipple led the evening's activities, and explained what sorts of grants and programs the donated money would fund. He invited a 2008 Youth Education Summit participant from Fairfax named Brigette to speak to the crowd about her experience during this year's Summit.

As usual, the live and silent auctions had an array of NRA gear; pistol and long gun bags, sculptures, commemorative Friends of NRA artwork, and, of course, firearms. But the raffle table included Bluetooth headsets, Home Depot gift cards, an iPhone, and even gift certificates to the NRA's very own state-of-the-art indoor range.

Hipple said everyone at the dinner would walk away friends because of our common bond of appreciation for the Second Amendment. Many faces were familiar, due to the banquet's proximity to NRA headquarters. It was a pleasure to once again see NRA Board members Dwight Van Horn and Tim Pawol, who are in town with committee meetings and attended the banquet as guests of NRA Competitive Shooting Director Mike Krei.

Auctioneer Frank "E." Bolton did a fabulous job of exciting the crowd, reminding attendees everything was for a good cause.

The entire night is depicted in the following slideshow: the silent auction and raffle buckets; the wall of guns; the Boy Scouts' color guard; the dinner and live auction.