Field Representative Bob Hipple (above left) spoke to the crowd assembled at the Waterford in Fairfax, Virginia, on Friday night. The Friends of NRA banquet was going as planned; all 150 guests were enjoying their dinner and the company of fellow NRA members. Hipple talked about the programs the Northern Virginia Friends of NRA banquet had helped fund throughout the past year.

Hipple then introduced NRA National Firearms Museum Director Jim Supica as the evening's guest auctioneer. The energy was electrifying and all eyes were on Supica as he took the stand. We attempted to tweet the action, but even NRAblog wasn't fast enough to keep up.

In between the bidding wars, Supica kept the crowd laughing. "Look-at-me-don't-look-at-him," he said a few times. Hipple and Friends of NRA volunteers assisted in keeping the auction on track. By the end of the evening, all 11 items had been sold and Hipple deemed the event a success. NRA Field Operations Director Kyle Weaver attended the banquet and agreed it exceeded expectations.

With the proximity to NRA's Fairfax, Virginia, headquarters, NRAblog ran into several NRA staff members in attendance: Dave of Law Enforcement; Emily of the Treasurer's Office; Jeff of Administrative Services; Barry and Gary from IS; and more.

Hipple, who coordinates Friends of NRA events for eastern Virginia and the eastern panhandle of West Virginia, took a minute to sit down with NRAblog as the evening wound down. "At five years old, [this banquet is in] kind of a transition, but we're doing great," he said. "We're going to do some committee recruiting, and that always makes a difference." (Find your Field Rep to get involved with your local banquet!)

"I see this particular banquet growing to 500 participants," Hipple said. He hopes to recruit new committee members, eventually maintaining a volunteer staff of between 25 and 30. "Virginia itself is seventy-five percent ahead of where it was a year ago, statewide," he reported. "We're busy building new committees across the state, and many of these new groups are making more than $20,000 their first event."

And will Supica be asked back for future Fairfax events? "You betcha," Hipple said. "He certainly knows how to work our crowd."