Date: Tue, 20 Jun 95 21:59 EST From: Peter Nesbitt <0005111312@mcimail.com> To: Firearms Alert Subject: EDDIE EAGLE: California event summary. This post contains a summary of the events leading up to the public presentation of the NRA Eddie Eagle Gun Safety program to the general public and to our elected/appointed officials. There is a list of do and do not items at the end of this file. Please learn from our mistakes! Enjoy! Peter D. Nesbitt President NRA Members' Council of Fairfield/Suisun P.O. Box 1171 Suisun, CA 94585 707-429-2871 voice 707-427-1310 fax ================================================================= A little over a year ago, I was contacted by a local parent who was interested in assisting the NRA Members' Council of Fairfield/Suisun. He was quite involved with various Scout, neigborhood, and church groups, and seemed like a natural for the Eddie Eagle Program (EEP). The other officers and I met with Lew to draft out a plan for implementing the EEP into our community. We foolishly expected the School Board and local school officials to accept us with open arms, and soon found out that we would have to back- door the whole program. But before we figured this out, much time, energy, and money went into purchasing EEP materials, then contacting the school officials with our project. We were not able to event get our foot into their office, nor even speak with one school official about the EEP. Our letters went unanswered, our phone-calls never returned. We re-grouped and decided to work out the back-door plan. Lew began teaching the EEP to his neighborhood kids; working with local scout groups; teaching the course in his church; and teaching the course to the kids of other friends and family. The idea was: 1) get the word out to as many parents as possible, 2) build the support of local parents and groups 3) then return to the cities and schools for another attempt at opening discussions on the EEP. After each class, we asked parents to write letters to the editor of their local newspaper. Several letters were printed praising the EEP, and recommending the program to parents and teachers in the community. Several newspapers later conducted interviews with our instructors, and wrote full page articles on the NRA, NRA Grassroots, and the NRA EEP. All were very favorable articles. We contacted the EEP Division at NRA Headquarters, and applied for grant money to fund our local activities. Due to the success of our recent activities and the number of children which were being taught, we received a small grant for our next major purchase of materials and supplies. After several months of operating on our own, we contacted three local chiefs of police. The Fairfield Chief was VERY interested in our program; Suisun City was mildly interested; Vacaville was very lukewarm to the program. Fairfield Chief of Police, Doug Milender, invited us to his office for a face-to-face. We met and discussed the EEP, and mapped out a strategy which would allow us to offer the EEP from within the City of Fairfield Community Services Division. The Chief (who is an NRA members) gave us his full support, and placed an order for additional materials, plus provided very positive comments to the local newspaper in his town. Suisun Chief of Police, Ron Forsythe, invited us to his office as well. We presented our materials. He smiled. Said it was a nice program...but there never was a firm offer to help us out. It appeared that he wanted to see what was going to happen in the city of Fairfield. Since Vacaville was the last of the three cities to contact us, we decided to place all of our resources and time into the Fairfield portion of this project. If things went well here, then we would attempt to branch out to other cities and use Fairfield as our example. Our instructors were interviewed personally by the Fairfield Chief of Police, fingerprinted, and back-ground checks conducted. He wanted to make sure that we had descent people working for us, as we would be working under the banner of his department and the City of Fairfield. The program was then presented to Kathy Dineen who handles all volunteer operations. It was somewhat difficult dealing with her, as she has many irons in the fire. The Chief was now "out of the loop", and advised us to work through Kathy unless we came to a stumbling block. Our first test came one Monday morning when we received a call from the police department. They wanted us to teach a class on the coming weekend. As luck would have it, each and every one of my volunteers was out of town, or scheduled to work. The group who requested our pressence, passed their dissappointment to the PD, who then questioned our commitment. So, with a little egg on our face, we set out to recruit more instructors and gain more experience. As much as people whine and complain about firearms accidents, it seems that noone wants to get involved and help. Experienced was gained, but often of "hard knocks". Two months ago, we selected June 19th as our "going public" date. Ground-work was laid with local "friendly" reporters, and we started work on holding a public meeting where parents and their children, elected officials, and all local police chiefs would be invited to witness the EEP in action. The City of Fairfield would provide us a room in their Community Center to present the class, and would also provide a TV and VCR for presenting the EE tape. A press release was drafted and then faxed to each newspaper in Solano County. We then drafted an invitation which was mailed to every City Council member in Solano County (7 cities), the police chiefs of these 7 cities, the Solano County Sheriff, the Unified School District officials, the School Board, all elementary schools in the county, and all kindergartens. A press release was included with this letter, and a copy of the EE brochure. Interviews were conducted by two newspapers, the other three never bothered. Two articles appeared in the Fairfield Daily Republic and the Vacaville Reporter. Both were favorable of our upcoming event, and many phone calls came in as a result of these articles. On the afternoon of the big event, I called the Community Center to ensure that we were still on for the free room. Much to our suprise, they didn't have a clue. The Chief and Kathy were both out of town, and it took a firm conversation to convince the folks at the Community Center that we had a room reserved. We arrived early to place signs and posters up throughout the Community Center. The staff had our room all set-up for us, uncluding TV and VCR. We had a display table at the entrance which contained sample EE materials, press release, and newspaper articles from the previous week. We also requested that everyone sign-in. By 6:30, parents and children were pouring into our room. We had to get extra chairs, and eventually ran completely out of room! Many parents were standing in the rear of the room. There were 20+ families represented, with 30+ children! Members from our Communications Committee were present with their CamCorders to document the event. I started the meeting with a short introduction on the NRA, and explained the many years of involvement with firearms safety programs, also explaining the lack of a program to address firearms safety issues with very small children. This introduction also presented a brief outline of the EEP, and what we hoped to accomplish by bringing the program to Solano County. Unfortunately, I was very nervous and cotton-mouth invaded my life! Lew was introduced to our guests and we played the EE video tape staring Jason Priestly and Eddie Eagle. Several portions of the EEP were presented to give the parents and children a taste of what the program was all about. The kids really got into it! Many of the kids came to the front of the room to act out various scenarios, and to recite the EEP safety message: "If you see a gun, STOP! DON'T TOUCH! LEAVE THE AREA! TELL AN ADULT!" The applause was very warm and friendly. When the program was concluded, we conducted a short Q&A with the parents, then distributed EE Trading Cards, EE Stickers, and EE Coloring Books to all of the kids who were present. The only dissappointment of the entire evening, was that not a single elected official came to the meeting! However, two Police Chiefs were present, and one Assistant Chief. At least we know that our law enforcement community is interested. These law enforcement officials reaffirmed their commitment to help us in any way possible, but we must remain the driving force behind the program as their resources are limited. CONCLUSION I feel that we have a broad base of support from within the community. One school is already moving forward with implementation of the EEP for next year, two local police departments are helping, and we are already involved with the Volunteer Services of one local city. The press coverage has been very good, and was provided by "friendly" reporters with whom relationships have been cultivated over the last several years. The Eddie Eagle program is PRO-ACTIVE. This is something positive that we have provided to our community. If the community rejects it, then we sit back and wait for the next child to get accidentally shot with a firearm. You can only imagine the flood of letters, phone calls, and faxes which will be received by our illustrious elected and appointed officials. THEY will have to answer to the PARENTS of the child who was SHOT, because WE were there there before the accident with our hands out. Only, our hands contained the SAFETY MESSAGE which would have saved the life of a child. The burden of prooof to prove otherwise, will be on heads of our elected officials Listed below are some do/don't items. Your mileage may vary from ours. - DO make initial inquiries with police, sheriff, elementary schools, kindergarten, school boards, etc. Try to locate a person within one of these entities who will assist you. Once you have a "bite" focus on that one group until success is achieved. - DO contact the Eddie Eagle Division of the NRA. They are constantly changing their operations, and their policies for providing materials are in constant flux due to budgetary constraints. If you hit come upon a road-block, ask to speak with the Division Manager (Melinda Bridges). - DO have at least one person who will head your EEP. This person must be dedicated enough to knock on doors, write letters, make presentations, and generally pester the people and groups whom you are trying to influence. - DO have a core group of individuals who are willing to instruct the EEP. We were caught unexpectedly with a small group, and could not provide the course on a short-notice basis. - DO solicit donations and sponsors from individuals, groups, and business people in your community. We have not done this yet, but plan to contact local business people and ask them to sponsor the purchase of a quantity of EE materials. - DO ask your chief of police or sheriff to place your orders. All law enforcement personel receive a discount that you and I are not eligible to receive. (I still don't understand why I can't qualify for the discount. My group is providing the instruction!) - DO send out a Press Release announcing the formation of your EE Committee. Then follow-up with a phone call to the newspaper asking them to cover this local story. - DO write letters to the editor announcing the formation of your EE Committee. Explain what the program is about, the benefits of such a program, and what your goals/objectives are for the coming year. - DO have your ducks in a row BEFORE you meet with the reporter to discuss the EEP. You do not want to meet a reporter without having a complete understanding of what the EEP is all about, or not knowing what your goals and objectives are. - DO ask the reporter to provide a photographer for your class once you are comfortable with instructing the EEP. - DO call your reporter/photographer on the day of your event. I didn't call until 5 minutes before the meeting. The reporters forgot about the event and would not have made it if I had not called to remind them! - DO place flyers and notices throughout your community. There are bulletin boards in many public places. Place flyers out that include your name, number, and what the EEP is all about. - DO ask your police department and community centers to place EEP pamphlets with their other hand-out materials. We have EEP and the "Parents Guide to Gun Safety" posted throughout the two cities which we are currently focused on. - DO call the owner/contact of your meeting place during the day or week before your meeting. I took it for granted that a city representative had taken care of this for us. We were almost without a meeting room. - DO have someone record your meeting with a camcorder. This tape may be used for cable access, presentation to other groups, to provide training to your new instructors, and to critique your current instructors. I was very nervous last night, and plan on watching the tape to see how I did. - DO make follow-up phone calls to your elected officials to ensure that they received their invitations. I did not, and NONE of our elected officials came to the meeting. Of course, none of the letters was returned, so I must assume that they were not interested or had previous engagements. (yea, right!) ================================================================= - DO NOT spread yourself too thin. By contacting too many groups or police departments at once, you may find yourself unable to provide the necessary instuction for all entities. - DO NOT get discouraged when groups or individuals will not accept your program. This program has the NRA stamp on it, and this alone will turn others off. The EEP deals with "gun safety", and this often conjurs up visions of actual firearms being involved in the course. - DO NOT discuss politics or gun control when meeting with someone about the EEP. Reporters may try to find some hidden political message, and your elected officials may try to say that this is some way to indoctrinate children into firearms. It's all about SAFETY, SAFETY SAFETY! - DO NOT get mad or rude to anyone who refuses the EEP. This will only serve to further alienate the people your are trying to influence. - DO NOT go to any of meetings dressed in cammies or rags for clothing. This may be the first time that many of these people have had up-close contact with an NRA member. You want to look and smell your Sunday best! - DO NOT be offended if someone else picks up the EEP and runs with it. We just found out that a local elementary school is going to present the EEP to their kids during the next year school year. We have no idea how they found out about the EEP and we dont' care. It's all about winning, and they will present this NRA program without the help of local NRA members. Fine with us! - DO NOT allow your local "clowns" to present the program. We have several people who want to serve as instructors. Unfortunately, these people will not represent the NRA, Eddie Eagle, or our local Members' Council, in a very good manner. (My apologies if this offends you) [end]