NRAblog is delighted to introduce Wendy Cunningham, who has been working at the NRA National Firearms Museum since February. Cunningham brings a variety of skills to the Museum’s small staff, and she reports she has worked on some very interesting projects.

With the title “Administrative Assistant,” you might imagine Cunningham does a lot of budgeting, filing, organizing, and assisting – and you’d be right. Museum Director Jim Supica and Senior Curators Phil Schreier and Doug Wicklund spend a lot of time on the road, and Cunningham holds the fort down, so to speak, and keeps the candy bowl freshly stocked at the Museum’s Fairfax, Virginia, offices.

But there is much, much more to Cunningham’s job. In her time with the NRA, Cunningham’s role has already grown to include gun show coordinator, advertising, and graphic design for Museum projects. Her work is visible on several Museum ads, the recent Hollywood Guns book cover, Museum exhibit labels, brochures, banners, and even on the latest Museum challenge coin.

Cunningham holds a degree in Art History from the University of New Hampshire, and before coming to the NRA she worked at Washington D.C.’s National Gallery of Art as a curatorial assistant to the Senior Mellon Curator of the Division of Prints and Drawings.

Although she started her new job at the NRA during February’s epic snowstorm, Cunningham says that the transition has been easy and enjoyable. Supica notes that Cunningham has brought a fresh perspective and new energy to staff. He reports, “In a very short time, Wendy has become an integral part of the Museum. Not only does she keep the staff organized – sometimes a daunting task on its own – but she brings great art and design skills to Museum projects.”

Cunningham confesses, “I love my job. I get to wake up in the morning and enjoy coming to work. My job is a lot of work, but we also have a lot of fun.”

"Women On Target Instructional Shooting Clinics has a new program coordinator," Beth Hellmann e-mailed NRAblog. "Beginning July 26, Diane Danielson will hit the ground running. We're thrilled to have a woman of her caliber (no pun intended) join the staff. Welcome aboard Diane!"

Danielson, pictured at right, comes to us from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where she worked in the printing industry for 33 years. The hunter and NRA Certified Instructor says she has always aspired to a career at NRA HQ.

"I took a basic rifle course at age 10, with my mom as the instructor," Danielson said. "Shortly thereafter I became a junior member of the NRA."

Now an NRA Life Member, Danielson is ready to join the staff of NRA Women's Programs, which houses both Women On Target shooting clinics and Women On Target hunting excursions; the Refuse To Be A Victim program; the Women's Wilderness Escape; postal matches; and more.

These programs are not anything new to Danielson, who has coordinated shooting clinics for women in Wisconsin for the past four years.

"I'm eager to expand the Women On Target clinics, to share what I have learned, as well as all that I will learn," she said. "The main focus will be getting clinics into clubs that haven't hosted them before."

Danielson, who is in the process of moving to the northern Virginia area, lives with her two labrador retrievers.  

For more information about Women On Target Clinics coming to your area, contact NRA Women’s Programs at (703) 267-1398 or visitwww.nrahq.org/women/isc/clinics.asp.

Earlier this month, a select group of hunters gathered upon the plains of Goodland, Kansas for the Neil Hartliep Memorial Shoot. Much like the previous 15 years, there were no trophies to hand out and no winners to crown. There were, thanks to the foresight of Fred Heil, plenty of strawberries to go around.

“Everyone – visitors, local drivers, and friends – looked forward to the strawberries,” said host Faye Paxton. “Fred looked forward to giving them all a bad time about their shooting.”

Fred, an amateur prospector, looked forward to helping too. Often spending thirty to forty minutes cleaning every speck of copper from his bore, he consistently found time to share his ample knowledge on reloading, firearms, and the care of guns with every experienced and inexperienced shooter who inquired. The results were easy to spot in the field.

Always arriving with the latest equipment, Fred was known for effortlessly picking off varmints at over 500 yards with the latest .19 caliber Calhoon special. “He used those oddball .223, badgers, hornets, whatever ammo Jim Calhoon cooked up for him,” said Garald Paxton. “Fred loved testing those rifles and bullets out for Jim.”

As a favorite amongst his fellow shooters, the Hartliep Memorial crew recently decided to surprise the former Marine with a special gift. There, Fred was presented with a Ruger slab-side, competition target pistol engraved by nationally-known engraver Larry A. Parker.

“Tears ran down his cheeks and he was speechless,” Faye recalled. “If you knew Fred, speechless was a rare thing for him!”

What made this year’s strawberries all the more special was Fred was too ill to attend the 2010 Shoot. Not wanting to disappoint the troops, he arranged for berries from his hometown Modesto, California fields to be delivered right on schedule. A few days later, he passed away.

“Fred was a very accomplished long range shooter, desert expert, dedicated Marine, and a terrific man,” said Kayne Robinson, NRA Executive Director of General Operations. “He was all heart.”

The National Rifle Association employs interns across several different departments. Here, intern Olivia Blanchard sits down with fellow intern Katie McDermott:

Olivia Blanchard: So Katie, where did you grow up?
Katie McDermott: I was born in Florida, but I only lived there until I was 3. Then my family moved to Sterling, in northern Virginia, but we moved from there to Round Hill, VA at the end of my junior year of high school.

OB: Are you currently in college?
KM: I just graduated from Radford University in Radford, VA, which is right next to Blacksburg and Virginia Tech. I was a Communication major with a focus in public relations.

OB: Did you enjoy your time at Radford?
KM: Yes, I loved it. The classes at Radford are very small, so everyone knows each other and students have a lot of one-on-one time with professors.

OB: It sounds like a great place to go to school. Were you involved in any extracurricular activities while you were there?
KM: Yes, I played club lacrosse for three years, and I was a member of the PRSSA, the Public Relations Student Society of America.

More...

The National Rifle Association employs interns across several different departments. Here, meet NRA Media Relations intern Olivia Blanchard:

Blanchard was born in North Carolina and lived there for 6 years. Her family then moved to Ohio and now resides in Atlanta, Georgia.  Blanchard is a rising senior at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (go Tarheels), where she majors in English with a minor in French.

“I like that there's a diverse group of people at my school, and enjoy the challenging work my classes have to offer,” Blanchard said. Olivia is a columnist for the Daily Tar Heel, and contributes to a campus magazine. 

In Blanchard's free time in North Carolina, she enjoys frequenting different coffee houses and reading a collection of good books. While she lists cooking and baking as hobbies, she prefers creating cakes for others to avoid the carb consumption.  Blanchard is excited to be spending her summer with the NRA. This is her first exposure to a national, member-driven group. Expect to see her name as she begins contributing to NRAblog!  

If a Blackberry stops functioning, or something isn't quite right with a PDA, employees know Jim Dove, Manager of NRA’s Telecommunications Services, is the guy to call. With a few hundred employees, NRA HQ has an internal IT division and a Telecom division. 

Dove and his staff are an integral part of the operations at the NRA. They just happen to be behind-the-scenes type of people.

Perhaps for this very reason, Dove, an NRA employee for more than 9 years, is one of NRAblog’s most loyal readers. “I learn a lot about what we do for our members by reading the blog,” Dove said with a smile. “I read it to keep up with our programs and events all over the nation.”

For the past several months, Dove has been diligently collecting old NRA cell phones – functioning and not – to for a worthy cause. "We want to support our men and women in uniform in Iraq and Afghanistan," Dove told NRAblog.

Dove learned about the Cell Phones for Soldiers from Vanessa Beebe, an assistant in the Executive Vice President’s office.

Right now his collection numbers 40, and he's nearly ready to hand the box to Cell Phones for Soldiers, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. According to the group’s web site, it was founded by Brittany and Robbie Bergquist, teens from Norwell, MA who read about a soldier struggling to pay a phone bill.  Their goal is to provide every US soldier with a way to call home for free. 

You've been practicing for years, sacrificing time with friends and family to tinker with the mechanics of the perfect shot. Endless hours of learning just the right way to hold your firearm, relax the muscles, breathe, and fire. Now that you're ready to show off your technique at the line, there is a way to show off your accomplishments round the town.

As a shooter rises through the ranks, NRA Competitive Shooting Division's reporting department sends new classification cards when a new level is reached. For those who don't know, there are five levels: High Master, (High Power Rifle, Action Pistol, Pistol and Police Pistol only), Master, Expert, Sharpshooter, and Marksman. Now with each new classification card will come a new classification decal.

“These new classification decals will be a great way to for competitors to show off their NRA Competitive Shooting classification on their gun box or car window,” said Competitive Shooting Director Mike Krei. "They can show off their hard earned shooting achievements with pride by displaying our new NRA Competitive Shooting Division Classification decals."

Buy yours here. 

With record numbers of NRA Certified Instructors, Coaches, and Training Counselors, 2010 has been a busy year for the staff of NRA's Training Department. Even though the pace has picked up this year, Steve Hoback, Andy Lander, and Mark Richardson still made time to train seven new Range Safety Officers (RSO) right here at NRA Headquarters.

The Range Safety Officer course teaches many components, including a RSO's roles and responsibilities, range standard operating procedures, range inspection and range rules, firearm stoppages and malfunctions, and Range Safety Briefings which include emergency procedures. Candidates must also receive 90 percent or better on the written exam. Above, RSO candidates practice issuing a Range Safety Briefing to their classmates.

"This truly is a great course to take," said Hoback. "It's also one of my favorites to teach."

Five additional NRA staff, including Silhouette and Black Powder Program Coordinator Jonathan Leighton, are now NRA Certified RSOs. Leighton also had two of his Black Powder Target Rifle volunteers take the course to gain a better understanding of how ranges operate, especially during events run by NRA.

"This benefits anyone who spends time on the ranges at various NRA Competitive Shooting events," Leighton said of the course.

Learn more about becoming a RSO or find a course in your area.

Draped beneath the shadow of Apple Orchard Mountain, VA, Melissa Betts rummaged through a list of potential Washington, DC internships. Near the top was an opening at The Heritage Foundation. A few phone calls and a few emails later solidified the position. And that's when her work with non-profits began.

"I didn't appreciate the value of non-profits at the time," Betts told NRAblog. "But my experience at Heritage really opened my eyes to the importance of non-profits that protect our rights -- like the National Rifle Association."

While her classmates enjoyed the college experience, Melissa pushed to complete her studies and gain valuable work experience. With a little extra effort, she finished her internship and graduated a semester early.

"Sure, they got to sleep in, go to parties, and go to Cabo, but I was looking for more. The way I saw it, I was making money and they were spending it."

With a freshly stamped degree in hand, she was assigned to Heritage's JobBank. And that's where she found the NRA.

"It was luck," our new Marketing Coordinator explained. "If I was assigned to a different section, I probably would have missed the NRA job posting. Instead, I got an early jump on the application process and was able to convince my new boss that I had the right set of skills."

Her skills can be documented with a degree in Communication Studies with a concentration in Advertising & Public Relations. And she's put them to good use here at the NRA. "I've designed ads for Club Connection, Club University, and a few of our magazines. I'll even be speaking at the next Club University."

With little experience in public speaking, Betts is taking steps to ensure success when she takes the stage in Indianapolis. "I've been practicing here at the office and when I go out with friends. I must be pretty good," she said with a smile. "A few have gone on to join the NRA."

Some NRA employees spend five, ten, fifteen, or even twenty years in service to the members of the National Rifle Association.

J.R. Robbins, the Managing Editor of NRAHuntersRights.org, has spent a whopping 27 years working here at NRA. At right, Robbins joined NRAblog on the field this past June for the Range Day of the annual POMA conference.

“If you want to know something that is happening, has happened, or how a program works, John Robbins is the guy to ask,” Education and Training Director Bill Poole said. "I personally believe he knows more about the NRA's programs than anyone else."

NRAblog congratulates you on this milestone, Mr. Robbins, and thanks you for your outstanding dedication and service to the National Rifle Association.

NRA HQ here in Fairfax, VA, is a popular place on the weekend. Sometimes it's a Boy Scout lock-in at the Museum; other times it's an instructional course for area hunters, competitors, collectors, or trainers. NRA's Bill Poole, Director of Education and Training Division, brings us the following special report:

The National Rifle Association's Headquarters auditorium served as the location for a gathering of seasoned and aspiring turkey hunters looking to expand their turkey hunting skills on Saturday, March 27. The event attracted more than 50 attendees and was sponsored by the the National Capital Chapter of SCI and the NRA Hunter Services Department.

Lead Instructor Ted Griner said, "It's a privilege to partner with NRA to help educate hunters on the basics of turkey hunting and the use of calls."

Matt Fleming, NRA Hunter Services Hunter Clinic Instructor Program coordinator, said, "There are hunters all over America who want to become better at hunting. Partnering with Safari Club International is a great way to reach out and help."

When they aren't on the road or giving tours at the National Firearms Museum (NFM), how does the staff spend their time? The other day, Senior Curator Phil Schreier spent it in the Gun Vault working on the latest donations to NFM's "Hollywood Guns" collection. To the right, you see him working on two belt fed machine guns.

Heavy machine guns like the M240G or M60 receive their cartridges by way of an ammunition belt and are also referred to as belt feds. While the original belts were usually made of canvas, today's belts consist of individual rounds held together with metal clips. In addition to the advantage of providing continuous fire, belt feeders decreases the weight of the firearm and allows for greater mobility. The one in Phil's grasp is a Browning designed, Marlin manufactured M1895.

Also known as a Potato Digger, this M1895 was brought to shore by a group of sailors mounting an attack on Tangiers in the film The Wind and The Lion. And, as Phil likes to point out, Teddy Roosevelt brought two Potato Diggers with him during his charge up San Juan Hill. Just over his right shoulder is the Browning M1917 machine gun fired by various members of The Wild Bunch and their opposition. Each of these belt feeders are part of the much anticipated "Hollywood Guns" collection that goes on display later this year.

Sheri Judd comes to the NRA from Oak Harbor, Ohio, where she worked with the Civilian Marksmanship Program for eight years. During the snow storm in late December, Judd made the drive to Virginia to begin her position in our Education & Training Division. "I'm afraid I brought some of Ohio's weather with me, and I'm sorry about that," Judd joked.

This energetic mother of three has years of experience in national youth shooting sports programs and training. This, along with her knowledge of national and club competitions and relationship with military shooting teams, shooting industry vendors and equipment manufacturers will be an asset to NRA Youth Programs, Youth Programs Manager Larry Quandahl said.

Here at the NRA, Judd will be working with Cooperative Youth Programs – specifically with the Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force JROTC Commands and high schools throughout the country; the American Legion shooting sports program; the VFW and YMCA youth marksmanship programs; and the Outstanding Achievement Youth Award.

Judd is a long-time "team mom," from many years ago when her oldest son was an air rifle competitor. Today, youngest son, Remington, 12, keeps Judd busy. After a busy workweek, Judd packs up her car with Remington and his high power rifle gear and the two head to Quantico, VA, where Remington practices with his new team, VFEMI Jr High Power team. Does Remington feel pressured to follow in his older siblings' footsteps in the shooting sports world? "Not at all," Judd said. "This is what he wants to do."

Judd and her three children are adjusting to the northern Virginia area. "There's more to do here as a family than back in Ohio," she said. "We like it here just fine." We're glad to have you here, Sheri! Readers, stick around. We'll be hearing plenty more from the talented folks in our Youth Programs department.

Always there to lend a hand promoting the National Firearms Museum's (NFM) latest efforts, NRANews stopped by to film the next few segments of Curator's Corner. And what theme did they go with this time? Why the museum's new Hollywood Guns exhibit due to come online later next month of course.

Hollywood Guns is a collection of firearms seen in some of the more popular movies over the last eighty years. Everyone from NFM's Director Jim Supica to Assistant Curator Amber Lammers have been scrambling over the last six months to gather guns from movies like 1934's The Thin Man to 2010's The Pacific. In true 'at the movies' style, we shot the series in our headquarter's conference center for a more balcony-like effect.

Just make sure to tune in tomorrow night for the first in a six part serial presentation of Curator's Corner Goes to the Movies at 10:20 p.m. on NRANews.com or on Sirius Patriot channel 144. Until then, the balcony is closed.