Amarillo, TX Ribbon Cutting

On Thursday, September 30th, 2004 I arrived in Amarillo, TX to cut the ribbon for the grand opening of the new Gander Mountain store. I had driven to Paola, Kansas the night before and got set up to do a seminar which I would do on my return trip for the Kansas Chapter of White Tails Unlimited.

The next morning while still in Paola I did two radio talk shows for the Amarillo area–one at 9:00 am and another at 11:00 am for the grand opening. What a blast! Being able to talk to people about what you like to do. That afternoon I had to catch a flight from Kansas City, KS to Amarillo, TX. By the time I arrived in Amarillo, it was too late and I was too tired to take my bow out and make sure that nothing had happened to during the flight.

I had completely burned myself out between the long 9-hr drive to Paola, not getting any sleep, doing the radio shows, and then flying the remainder of the way to TX. On the other hand it’s like when you’re having too much fun--you don’t know when to quit.

To me the ribbon cutting has been a very humbling thing to do. Since the first time I was asked to cut the ribbon with an arrow in Flint, MI, I was up for the challenge of standing in front of a crowd of people and trying to make the right shot with the first arrow.

Today my thoughts took me back to my first ribbon-cutting experience in Flint, MI. This is my home town area from when I was a young boy. What an exciting thing to do–to go there and be able to cut a ribbon for a company like Gander Mountain that gives back to the community with a big heart. I’ve been involved with so many things with Gander Mountain that have to do with helping people, but that’s what they are all about. It isn’t just a big chain of sporting goods stores.

I stood in front of a crowd of about 500-600 people in Flint, MI. There was a group of guys in attendance who probably grew up together. They were perhaps between 55 and 65 years old. What a bunch of characters! The butterflies were flying in my stomach as I was focusing on my first shot and all of a sudden out of the crowd I hear, “Hey Ray, you don’t have enough arrows in your quiver”. I started laughing and took my concentration off what I was doing and started joking back and forth with the guys and having fun.

Then I turned around, drew my bow and released the arrow. To my amazement, the arrow dropped slightly below the ribbon. I wish they would have had a video camera on my face. That’s when I noticed the crowd sounding like the roar of a Harley Davidson around me. Everyone was whispering and talking. I couldn’t believe what just happened. Maybe one of the most embarrassing things I’ve ever done. I had made this shot over and over and over again in practice and was well prepared to stand in front of a crowd and do what I did. What I wasn’t prepared for was having such a good time with a bunch of guys who I didn’t even know and totally lose my concentration. After taking a couple of seconds and gathering my thoughts, I nocked up a second arrow. This time I could hear the guys behind me saying and doing things but I was no longer a part of their camaraderie. I was as focused on this shot as I have been focused on any national power lifting meet to set records. I was in my own zone. I drew back my bow and looked across the top of my 20 yard pin and touched it slightly on the bottom of the 3/8" wide ribbon. I told myself “hold your bow arm still until the arrow hits the target”. I released the arrow and it was true. When it hit the ribbon, however, it didn’t cut it in half! I couldn’t believe what was happening. Again, the crowd sounded like the roar of a Harley Davidson around me. I could hear one of the guys in the crowd yelling, “One more shot Ray and we are off to brand x.” I couldn’t believe it. I knew I had made the right shot. The arrow was in the ribbon. The only thing that could have happened was that the two blade cut-on-contact broad head that I used was turned completely horizontal.

The archery equipment that I’m using is the exact equipment that I hunt with–the 104 # Gorilla bow, a two blade cut-on-contact broad head, and a 655 grain four-fletch arrow. Again, I was totally focused on the shot. I rested my pin on the bottom of the ribbon and released the arrow. It was dead quiet. The impact of the arrow sounded like a baseball bat hitting the target. Both sides of the ribbon fell simultaneously to the side of the target and before I even realized what happened, the crowd went berserk! You would have thought I had just won a gold medal! The group of guys that were heckling me were now standing right beside me, shaking my hand and patting me on the back and yelling “great shot Ray!” I thought I was going to be bruised from the back of my neck to my hind end from everyone swatting me on the back! I cannot tell you the emotions that went through me that morning from total disbelief to an unbelievable high as if I had just harvested a great white tail buck.

And now it’s 6:30 AM Friday morning in Amarillo, TX. I pulled my bow out of my case, checked my yardage and got ready to release my first practice arrow at the 3/8" wide ribbon. I have found out through practice since Flint that at 22 yards, for whatever reason, the majority of the time my broad heads hit the target vertically instead of horizontally. And in staying true to what I hunt with, I didn’t want to take the easy way and use a giant gobbler guillotine or some other wide cut four-blade broad head. It was at this moment that Holly returned and mentioned to me that there were two national TV shows who would be there to film the event. When she said that to me, I told her that I wasn’t going to miss the ribbon on purpose–that I was going to cut it on the first shot. I had originally talked to them about missing the first shot or two on purpose because of the response from the crowd in Flint. We all had a great time together there!

I decided to take the target outside so that I would have the same type of natural light conditions as it would be for the actual ribbon-cutting shot. As I released the first practice arrow, it dropped slightly below the ribbon. I rechecked my mental chart, held true and the second shot dropped slightly below the ribbon too. That’s when Matt came around the corner and told me that the mayor was just about done speaking and that I would be “up” next. I think Matt could read my face. I couldn’t believe this was happening. I didn’t know if something had gotten jarred on my bow from the flight or if it was me. I told Matt I would be ready in a minute and he gave me the thumbs up. You cannot believe the emotions that go through a person if they think they may fail at something that they are very proud of doing and know they can do it.

I set my bow down, bowed my head, and said a little prayer because in my heart I knew that it wasn’t the equipment. I had totally fatigued myself from all of the traveling and from the excitement of what I was doing. I knew that missing the ribbon by even a 1/32 of an inch was still a miss. There are so many variables involved in cutting the ribbon–even the wind can push the ribbon out of the path of the fastest arrow. I regained my thoughts and took another practice shot. The arrow hit the ribbon dead center. I followed up with yet another shot to build my confidence and again the shot was centered. As I walked around from the back of the building to the front, I could hear the mayor talking and could start to see the back end of the crowd of people. That’s when I stopped and thanked the good Lord for giving me the abilities that I have and for now having the confidence that I needed. Just a few more steps forward and I could see about 300-500 people listening to the mayor’s speech and more people were still coming. I walked toward the crowd with my bow in my hand and I was already in my own zone–totally focused on making the right shot. As the mayor finished up his talk, they announced that I was there and that I was going to cut the ribbon for the grand opening. As before, I asked the crowd to back away from the targets and out of my sight view from left to right. I double checked my yardage. I was at 22 yards and even if someone were talking to me at that point, I probably wouldn’t have even heard them. Just like setting a new power lifting record–I was totally focused on what I had to do. As I got ready to draw my bow, the early morning sun shined through the clouds and “lit” the ribbon up. I don’t know how else to describe it.

It was neat! I came to full draw, went through my mental notes, and rested my pin on the bottom of the ribbon. I released the arrow with great follow through. The arrow hit the ribbon and stuck into the target and the ribbon did not part. I couldn’t believe it! I looked at the arrow and the ribbon for a second and started to pull another arrow from my quiver. The crowd was dead quiet. Then just like that–both sides of the ribbon fell simultaneously. The crowd let out a giant roar but I think I was even a little louder than they were. I still do not know for sure today why the razor sharp broad head left a
two-second delay on the ribbon cut–but what an unbelievable thing to have happen. I’ve always prided myself as being a good shot with a bow, but this does take it to the extreme and what a blast!
Now I have the rest of the weekend to help kids and share my knowledge of the outdoors and help put some new dreams into their hearts just like what happened to me at a young age.