Hi everyone
The Alabama - Kentucky Rifle show is less than a month away. We are going to have a great a Great show. There is going to be a fabulous display of Kennedy Rifles that are believed to be made in Alabama. Until a few years ago I was not aware that part of the Kennedy family moved to Alabama and opened a gun manufacturing facility in Florence Alabama which is just a short drive from the Joe Wheeler Lodge where the show is being held. I met Tom Kilgo about ten years ago and found out that Tom wrote the book on Alabama gunsmiths. Through Tom I have found out that Alabama has a very rich gun making history and he will have many of his original Kennedy rifles on display at this show. We will also have a direct descendant of the Kennedy family that will be at the show with a fabulous signed David Kennedy rifle on display and give a short talk about the Kennedy family history in Alabama.
We are going to have the honor of having a KRF educational display at the show provided by Mr. Henry Bishop and Kenneth Orr. Many of you know these two gentlemen and the work they have done over the years to advance the knowledge about the Kentucky rifle and it's heritage. The title of the display will be:
‘Signed rifles from the Catawba Valley School’
The Catawba Valley School covered an area considered to be the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. Rifles from this school closely resemble late Lancaster style guns. [1815-1830]. Two of the 8 rifles on display are excellent surviving examples of guns referred to as ‘Poor Boy’ rifles. The KRF educational display will contain Catawba Valley School examples from the collections of KRA/KRF members Kenneth Orr and Eddie Huckabee.
I am very excited about having this KRF display and I hope that all of you will enjoy seeing these great rifles. Please stop by and give Henry and Kenneth a big thank you for their efforts in providing this display.
Any of you that have attended the show already know about the great displays that are at this show but if you have never attended the show you are in for a real treat. So please come and attend and enjoy and have a great time. I have attached a show flyer with all of the info for the show.
Jim
