(770) 500-3473 | info@ssusa.co

(770) 500-3473 | info@ssusa.co

MEMORIAL DAY THANK YOU X 900!

We took a pretty big chance by planning an event for Memorial Day that was just as much outside as it was inside. God blessed us with a beautiful 80° day, and more than 900 people entered our doors to help raise money for our US Military Veterans. By any account, this event was a success. Thank you! Here are some of the highlights.

Traffic Jam

We opened at 11AM, and the main parking lot was already full. Then the back parking area was full. Then the Alpharetta S.W.A.T. vehicle arrived, followed by a fire truck, followed by the Submariners’ Float, followed by the two Alpharetta K9 teams. We were yelling across the lot that we might have a space open, only to see that those patrons were just putting their guns in their car to come back and eat lunch. Yes, we do indeed need a bigger parking lot, but that’s a bit of a long term project.

A MEMORIAL DAY THANK YOU

Best. Food. Truck. Ever.

We contracted with The Patty Wagon Food Truck, based in Marietta, to provide lunch. Took a chance there, too, since we had never eaten there nor eaten from their food truck before. The burgers and the cajun fries were absolutely outstanding, and the service was excellent as well. Thank you, Patty Wagon! Highly recommended.

A MEMORIAL DAY THANK YOU

Taps Across America

We took another big chance when we learned about Taps Across America. Honestly, I had never heard of the movement until about 1pm on Monday. I asked our social media intern to put out a message that we needed bugler or trumpeter to come play Taps at 3PM. Lo and behold, the community once again showed up. Our trumpeter did a great rendition of Taps. The leader of the local VFW then led the crowd in The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. Thank you.

Alpharetta K9 Hammer & K9 Raider

We did not take any chances inviting these fantastic law enforcement teams to bring dog loving to the crowd. The Alpharetta Police Department K9s never, ever disappoint. If you didn’t get a chance to try and take K9 Hammer‘s toy away, you missed a very entertaining experience. K9 Raider has to be the nicest police dog anyone has ever met, and both of their handlers are top notch professionals. Thank you, Alpharetta Police, for allowing our community the time to enjoy these wonderful animals.

A MEMORIAL DAY THANK YOU

Outdoor Dining

We honestly did not have any idea how to setup for outdoor dining for such an event. On May 15, we served BBQ down the side of the building, and that really didn’t work so well. At the last minute, my wife suggested that we park the trucks (Food, Ice Cream, BBQ) in the last space on the right as you face the building, and setup all the tables in those other spaces. It worked! And, now we have a go-to setup for all future outdoor events, at least the ones with food. Well, that kinda means all of them, because we all love a good meal. If you were one of the lucky folks who stayed for the BBQ at the end of the day, then you were especially blessed by Claude’s Q, some of the best BBQ I’ve ever had. Thank you Cliff!

A MEMORIAL DAY THANK YOU

“Everyone Shoots Free”

I totally made this up. Literally had no idea how, if, or why it might work, but the idea was to make it easy (financially) for people to come in the store and raise money for Veterans. Thank you, God, it worked. More than 900 people came through the doors yesterday, and well over 1/3 of them (379) bought at least one target to benefit VetBuds. VetBuds came to us through an introduction from one of our RSOs a couple of months ago, and they’ve been a pleasure to work with. We highly recommend VetBuds as a charity of choice for supporting Veterans.

A MEMORIAL DAY THANK YOU

A Fundraiser

The SharpShooters organization is 10 years old, so they’ve done a few fundraisers, but I had never been involved in any of those, having just joined in January. I had no idea what to expect, and really didn’t know if the whole “$5 & $10 target” idea would even work. Thank you again to the 379 people who bought one of those targets, and congratulations to the two patrons who won the Smith & Wesson M&P9 2.0 and the “Day at the Range for 4 People”! Bottom line is you raised nearly $3,000 to help Veterans.

Thank you

You plan and plan and plan, but in the end, you hope the timing is right, the weather is right, and that “everyone” shows up. Well, in this case, thanks to our team and our community, everything went incredibly well. Thank you to the Patriot Guard, the Killer Creek Harley Owners Group, the VFW, Atlanta Ice Cream Truck, the local Marine Corps Recruiting team, and thank you to everyone who showed up to honor our fallen heroes.

We planned, we hoped, we remembered, and we celebrated. Thank you.

“It is foolish and wrong to morn those men who have died, rather we should thank God such men lived.”

General George S Patton

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