John Grantham has more than a couple “notches” in his belt from being at the helm of the annual Ulysses Gun Club’s Gun and Coin Show, but this year he is riding “shotgun”.
“I decided to take a step back,” Grantham said, adding, “I will still be helping out, but I’m not in charge of it this year.
Grantham has been involved with the show for the past 30 years, and noted that “it was already going when I got involved.”
The local Ulysses Gun Club, who also hosts trap shoots, has been hosting the show since 1973.
“I know the Henderson brothers were involved with it,” Grantham said. “They used to have it in the Tiger Pit before it was moved to the Grant County Civic Center after it was built.”
Robert “Sam” Guy was there when it all began.
“The Ulysses Gun Club was formed in 1972 and we needed a fundraiser to help us in purchasing traps, walks and other equipment so we decided to host a gun show,” Guy explained. “It’s a lot bigger now than it was in 1972.”
Guy, who was the first president for the club, also sold memberships to the club to help raise funds.
“We sold life time memberships for $25 each,” Guy said. “We were raising money also to help us with having high school shoots and 4-H shooting events.”
He confirmed the move to the civic center was made later.
“Marshall Walker was the Grant County Agent at that time and he instigated getting the civic center built,” Guy said. “It’s a lot bigger and has more room for the gun shows than what we had initially in the Tiger Pit.”
According to Guy, over the years they have had some vendors who have been “pretty consistent” in coming to sell their wares. Along with Guy, original members of the club were Delbert Whaley, Rodney Madison, Ron Briggs, Gene Garmon, Calvin Hall and Wayne Jesse.
Over the years, one thing Grantham has noticed is changes in regulations.
“It varies how the guns are governed by the ATF and whoever is elected president during that time,” Grantham said. “President Obama was the best salesman in the world for rifles and pistols - the market went over the top. Part of the problem because of that was we couldn’t get stuff in as quickly. When President Bush was in office - things went flat. The world was secure and people were holding on to their money.”
The show, which has always been the second weekend in February, has only had weather issues a handful of times in spite of taking place during the winter.
“Weather has been pretty good for us,” Grantham said. “We have had maybe three or four years when we almost got snowed out.”
According to Grantham they have vendors who travel to the show from several locations, including from the states of New Mexico, Nebraska, Colorado, Missouri, Kansas, Texas, and Oklahoma.
“So when the weather is bad back East, some times the vendors can’t make the trip,” he said. “When that happens we may have half of our vendors who can’t make it at the last minute. We find out some times on Thursday or Friday before the show and then we are scrambling to fill the tables with other vendors so we can still have a good show.”
The show also has “cycles”.
“It depends on the economy at the time,” Grantham said. “We have to make a guess every year and then go for it.”
Grantham noted that Grant County Commissioners and the Grant County Fair Board have done their part to help make the show what it is.
“They have been really good to us over the years and have worked with us on what we need,” he said. “There may be bigger things for them that are going on at the same time, but they still are involved with helping us out with what we need.”
Covid didn’t even affect the show.
“We kept the A/C ventilator going and let people know, but I don’t think there was anyone who was wearing a mask,” he said. “We didn’t have any outbreaks of Covid, but we did have a bigger problem with the flu - it was bigger than Covid for us at that time.”
One thing that has affected the shows is attrition.
“People get older and then we have lost a few due to normal life occurrences,” Grantham said. “Some of the vendors wanted to retire. We are able to pick up some other vendors - we have very little rollover in our vendors. We do struggle a bit to find craft people to come. Younger people who come to the shows these days seem to be interested in different things, too.”
Over the years, one thing that Grantham will remember is meeting someone he didn’t expect at one of the shows.
“A Palma rifle shooter who was world champion eight times and his daughter was World Champion in the ladies division two or three times - they were here at a show helping one of the vendors,” he said.
Attendees and vendors alike can count on when the show is every year.
“It’s always the second weekend in February - we don’t vary from that,” Grantham said. “We work to keep the vendors happy and they fill up their schedules early with shows. If we were to move the date, they may already be booked for something else.”
The 2023 Ulysses Gun Club Show is gearing up for February 11-12. Make plans now to attend the 50th anniversary of this show which has contributed to the local economy through the visitors who come to participate.
If you would like more information, are interested in being a vendor, etc., call Chase Trahern at 620-353-8138.
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