It’s good to be home!

OK – finally back in Cody after a whirlwind trip to Idabel, Oklahoma and Kansas City, Missouri. I had great fun at the Museum of the Red River and at the Mountain-Plains Museums Association Conference.

The last couple of weeks being the blur they were, I am still processing some of the information. Besides spending all of one day presenting on Firearms and Museums (with assistance from my friends in the BATFE), I had the opportunity to talk and listen to a number of other museum professionals about what we do for a day job. Talks about Board Development, Technology, Facilities, Conservation, and Exhibit Planning were par for the course. The evenings included trips to many of Kansas City’s best museums (and they really are great!). Next year’s MPMA conference will be in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Should be a fun one.

It wasn’t all fun and games, however. While driving through Oklahoma, we heard about the untimely death of our longest-serving Advisory Board member. John Riner Woods passed away on October 16, 2008, as the result of a terrible traffic accident.  I can’t fully express my feelings on the subject. John and I were just getting to know one another and I was looking forward to the insights gained by his wisdom, his collecting knowledge, and his business acumen. He will be missed.

And with that, I have to get back to work.

Cheers,

Dave K.

Business Trips

As I write this, I am sitting in an AVIS office at 34th and Main in Kansas City, MO. I am waiting for a lift from one of our museum members – I am taking him out for lunch. The Gentleman is a longtime member, purchaser of Factory Letters, and a great source of information on Model 21 Winchesters. Should be fun.

This has been a busy few days. One of my bosses and I flew to Oklahoma City and spent a couple days in Idabel at the Museum of the Red River. The MotRR is a GREAT small museum down in Southeast Oklahoma. Idabel is a wonderful town – kinda reminds me of my hometown in Illinois. Same size, same folks, same WalMart…

The reason we were in Idabel was two-fold. I gave a presentation about Western guns to a standing-room-only crowd on Friday night and took part in an “Antiques Roadshow”-type event on Saturday.

My ride is here, so more later.

Cheers,

Dave K.

M4s, Football, Lunch, and things

Something of notice from a firearms history perspective – last week, the US Army announced that they may be willing to replace the M4 Carbine. While this is not technically history, per se, the willingness of the Army to change from the M16/M4 family to something new is as much of a change as the previous moves to percussion actions, rifled barrels, cartridge breechloaders, or repeating arms. The current platform, designed in the 1950s has seen nearly a half-century in use by the US military. This should be interesting…

I got a call from the front desk today – retired Pro-Bowler Larry Csonka should be stopping in for a tour. Mr. Csonka hosts a Hunting show based out of Alaska, his current home. I think he will enjoy seeing some of the stuff we have.

Thanks to a busy day and some planning needs, lunch is late. I am writing this at a table in the Mustang Grill, the restaurant here at the historical center. Gotta love buffalo burgers! Well, that and sunlight. Most offices in the historical center do not have windows. This is as much for security as to keep unwanted light from collections objects. You would be amazed at the damage that Ultraviolet light can inflict on an object – even on wood or metal. Maybe I will have our Conservator, Beverly Perkins write something up on the subject in the future.

Cheers,
Dave

Welcome to the Cody Firearms Museum Blog

Welcome – This is the first of what we hope will be many, many blogs about the Cody Firearms Museum – or the CFM as we generally call it in-house.

This entry will be short, sweet, and to the point. We hope you will come back many times and take a look at what we do.
Dave K.