I'm A Free Man!

[gmshtr]

Well, as many of you may know, the sale of Shooters Paradise is official. On Tuesday, I became a regular 40hr/week gov't employee (until another attack happens) with some spare time to do with what I please...which will more than likely involve practicing.

I want to thank everyone who supported me and the shop for the last three years. Without you all, I wouldn't have been successful enough to fix up the range and storefront. Undoubtedly, this is what initially attracted the perspective buyers.

My staff deserves all of the credit. They've busted their butts for me, and I am enternally grateful. So to Jim, Brent, Jason Lee, Clayton and John Clyburn, Daron Denny, George, Luis, Paul and Ken, Aaron, Rick and Taylor Purucsky, Mark Stephens, Prisilla, Craig, Junior, Rob, Mark and Krista Burns, Joe, Shane Ford, and anyone I've missed...thank you from the bottom of my heart.

To my volunteers, Bruce Jackson, my wife Denielle, Douglas Johnson, Jeff Salzberg, Eric Paradisi, Brad Rosenburg, Jay LaLuz, Jimmy Russell, Warren Kmetz, Sitoshi, Jeff Buchin, and the late Gene Livaudias...you all are the unsung heroes that made my life much easier. I'm not sure I could've gotten through the longer hours at work without knowing that you guys were there taking care of the things no one else wanted to take care of.

And finally, to my shooting teams. Rocket, Magic, Heatseeker, Lumber, Sparky, my lil buddy Turtle, JULLLIIIIIIEEEEEEEE, and Bill Schwab made up my "A-team" as Douglas liked to refer to it. And Douglas, Bernie, Russell, Jeff, Brad, and the other Jeff made up the GSSF presence at the Glock matches. It was an honor to have you all wear my shirts. It was great to know that I was being so well represented.

I am happy to be out from under it, but I will miss the many great friends that Shooters Paradise has given me. I will always be around (probably more now that I have free time!), and will always look forward to seeing you all on the range.

Sincerely,

Phil Strader

Shooters Paradise member #001

[BigDave]

I'll bet the little man will see a bit more of daddy, too.

Although I'm sorry to hear that your closing your doors, it is good to see that you seem to be enthused about the whole thing. What a burden it must be to have that off of your shoulders. Good for you, Phil.

[gmshtr]

I'll bet the little man will see a bit more of daddy, too.

Although I'm sorry to hear that your closing your doors, it is good to see that you seem to be enthused about the whole thing.  What a burden it must be to have that off of your shoulders.  Good for you, Phil.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeah, it was really cool this weekend. It was the first full weekend I've had with him, and he was giving me hugs all day, every day.

On the other hand, Shooters Paradise is still open and running. I'm sure that nothing will change with the actual shop, I'm just not the owner anymore. Now they're owned by a company with BIG $ !!

I'm hoping they really put some work into the range that I always wanted to, but couldn't afford to.

AAWWWWW, who am I kidding. I don't care.

"I'm paid, I'm paid, got it made in the shade. Recognize....kiss the ring, bitch!"

.... courtesy Chapelle Show

[Matthew_Mink]

I thought you were pulling my leg at Nats....congratz!

[XRe]

Just curious - is the new company going to continue to sponsor the Shooters Paradise team, or is that now a thing of the past?

[Turtle]

" Hide the money y'all, there's poor people 'round here....with your broke asses!"

[gmshtr]

Team who? What? Who dat? Who dere?

Yeah, unfortunately the Team is now a thing of the past. I'm expecting to see some of the old shirts on ebay! Yeah, right.

We'll still all be shooting together, though. I'm not sure what's going to happen with that broke-ass Turtle. Oh...I mean Ninja Turtle!

"I bought this turtle straight cash. Hot hands in a dice game. CLICKITY CLICKITY CLACK!"

Laters

[Carlos]

The "other" team (GSSF Team, "B" team, whatever you want to call us) will live on at least for the rest of this month; Team Shooters Paradise GSSF I & II will be shooting the Topton, PA round of GSSF. Phil wrote:

"And finally, to my shooting teams. Rocket, Magic, Heatseeker, Lumber, Sparky, my lil buddy Turtle, JULLLIIIIIIEEEEEEEE, and Bill Schwab made up my "A-team" as Douglas liked to refer to it. And Douglas, Bernie, Russell, Jeff, Brad, Travis, Terry, Robb, Bonnie, and the other Jeff made up the GSSF presence at the Glock matches. It was an honor to have you all wear my shirts. It was great to know that I was being so well represented."

As Team Shooters Paradise GSSF, at least 3 of us have so far shot 4 rounds of the '05 GSSF competitions. We won 3 out of 4 as an Amatuer Civilian team and set a new Team record for GSSF. Two of the shooters on Team I won enough overall GSSF divisions that they were promoted to GSSF Master. Its been great to shoot for Phil & for Shooters Paradise; I also appreciate the chance to create & run the USPSA program at Shooters w/ a ton of help from many loyal volunteers including Mike McAleer, Mike & Mary Hughes, Nic Costecu, Jeff Salzburg, Eric Paradisi, Vlad Drevitser, Brett, Jeff H. & Gene (Godspeed, Gene) thanks for the opportunity Phil!

Douglas Johnson

TY-44934

www.shootersparadise.com