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President: |
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John Larsen Sr. • Bwana Archery
3015 Country Dr. • St. Paul, MN 55117 • 651-482-9866
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I have served on the ARRO Board of Directors since 1989 and presently serve
as President of the Board. I have been an archer for over 30 years, and have
been in the Archery Business since the mid 1970’s. My perspective on business,
archery and life are simple; if you want things to happen, get involved and make them happen. At present I also serve on the ATA Board of Directors, ATA Dealer Council, Archery Business Advisory Board and the Minnesota DNR Hunter Education Task Force. I founded the Minnesota Hunter rights task force,
co-founded RAMM, a Minnesota based Archery business organization, whose mission is to fight the anti’s and protect the Archery business in our State.
I am also co-founder of the North Country Bowhunter Chapter of S.C.I. and past President of the Minnesota State Archery Association. I have also spent more days than I care to remember at our State Capitol, butting heads with law makers and the powers to be, trying to hold on to our right to hunt and fish. In closing, it has been a privilege to serve on the ARRO Board of Directors. |
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Vice President: |
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Martin Stubstad • Archery Headquarters
3440 North Valley Place • Rochester, MN 55906 • 507-282-3507
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Having operated an Archery Pro Shop for over 25 years, I still look forward each day to opening the doors. I was a special education teacher for 13 years until retiring in 1989. Teaching archery is my sole profession now. I have been an MBEP instructor for over 20 years and have helped hundreds of kids to become bowhunters. I have reached out to my community as their archery instructor.
All elementary, junior and senior high schools, girl scouts, cub scouts and boy scouts and hundreds of birthday parties have become informed that Archery Headquarters is the educator of archery. I have been with many State and local organization as a Board member or chairman to better wildlife habitat. My greatest accomplishment is finding the women I married and my archery business.
My greatest concerns are continuing to make a good profit in my business and maintaining our hunting heritage. The archery dealer is the backbone that really supports this great sport. By belonging to ARRO and ATA it gives me the best chance to continue my business. I operate my business to make a living.
I belong to ARRO to continually educate and profit my business. Joining ARRO and attending the ATA trade show gives me first hand knowledge of the
ever-changing consumer products and provides me with the best profit margins. |
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Treasurer: |
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Ervin Wagner • Archery Field & Sports
3725 NE 56th • Altoona, IA 50009 • 515-265-6500
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I received my first bow from Santa when I was 6 years old, fell in love with Archery and have been shooting ever since. I have managed and owned an Archery Range and Pro Shop in central Iowa from the middle 1970’s. I have served proudly on the A.R.R.O. Board of Directors for over 13 years. I am a member of many state and national organizations working with our D.N.R. and our state archery groups on Capitol Hill to promote archery and bowhunting. These include: the Iowa State Archery Association (Bowhunter Chairman – Inductee in the I.S.A.A. Iowa Archery Hall of Fame), The Iowa Bowhunters Association (Urban Hunt Deer Task Force and the Iowa Archery In The Schools Program. The N.F.A.A. and the N.R.A. and a Senior Member of the Pope and Young Club. I have been a member of our buying group for over 25 years. I found out in the early stage of the archery business, that there is strength in numbers and strength equals better pricing that helps us to compete with the box stores and mail order companies. Our buying group proves this statement. Our board and the office strive to get the best possible price on the entire inventory we buy from the manufactures and our members can help us by supporting the manufactures that support us. |
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Secretary: |
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Paul Schaffhauser • West Town Archery Lanes
6725 W Burleigh • Millwakee, WI 53222 • 414-444-7944
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Residing in the great Bowhunting state of Wisconsin with my wife Toni and
daughters Natalie and Stephanie. I'm a lifetime archer and bowhunter of over
30 years. I've worked in the business since 1978 and have co-owned our
second generation store since 1990. Starting in the late 1980's I began
volunteering my time on the ARRO hot show committee and continue to do so to
this day. I have been a director since 1995 and currently serve as secretary.
I have also served on the ATA dealer council.My commitment to ARRO and its members is to help us all grow stronger by increasing membership with the highest quality shops in the country, and boosting profits by offering a mix of the best products and pricing programs available each and every year. Being a part of the ARRO team has been very special to me and I look forward to many more years of service. |
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Directors: |
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Ron Pelkey • Pelkey's Archery
Bronson Rd Box 427 RR 3 • St. Albans, VT 05478 • 802-524-2582
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As an owner and operator of an archery pro shop, I strive to better myself and my business by attending schools and seminars on new products and providing the best facilities and service to our customers. I am an NFAA certified instructor, a bowhunter education instructor and received a Bachelor;s Degree in sales and marketing from Clarkson University. Our pro shop is located in northern Vermont, and we provide the largest archery inventory in the state along with twelve indoor lanes, an indoor 3-D range, and an outdoor 80 yard range. Being an ARRO member for the last fifteen years has provided our business with not only more profits, but a larger selection of products. ARRO has done a tremendous job providing its members with quality programs from a great variety of companies. In order to improve our membership, we need to persuade these businesses to provide  training and schooling, not only on their products, but on pricing, inventory control and advertising. I am also concerned, as I am sure many of you are, about the basement bandits and mass merchants. When a beginning archer purchases equipment, he/she needs the knowledge and expert advice that only an archery pro shop can provide. We need to convince the manufacturers that we are the reason for their success. One of the primary concerns in our pro shop is to provide opportunities for children to participate in the sport of archery. These activities bring new people to archery, boost future sales, and give archery some positive publicity. Drawing from the ARRO membership, I believe that we can help each other to provide now and exciting activities for the youth in each of our communities. These are some of my concerns about our industry. The officers and directors of the organization have set high standards for the products and service that provide to the members. |
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Dan Grunst • Grunst Archery
3184 Boyce Dr. • Rhinelander, WI 54501 • 715-369-1419
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Dave Cather • E-Z Livin' Sports Center
231 W 1st Ave. • Milan, IL 61264 • 309-787-2244
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I started E-Z Livin’ Sports Center with my wife in 1974 and have owned and operated it since. We both had a driving desire for archery and for teaching people we served the right way to shoot along with the tricks we had learned to harvest animals in an ethical and humane way. Bowhunters had received such negative press that we felt we needed to tell the people the truth about the greatest personal sport there is. Working with the news media and with several clubs over the years, we have seen the tide turn to making it a great family sport.
I joined A.R.R.O. many years ago after several reps kept telling me how A.R.R.O. could help me. It just sounded too good to be true. Now, after being involved with this group, I wished we had taken time to explore it with dealers involved in it years ago. I always wondered if we were going to get the best price. When we refused to order an item, all of a sudden the price came down and in the back of my mind I always wondered if the store down the street beat the price I was offered.
I have served on the A.R.R.O. Product Selection Board for over 10 years and have been on the A.R.R.O. Board of Directors for the past 8 years. It has been outstanding to work with the great group of dealers on the board along with the outstanding support of the office staff who understand that it is more than a job and are dedicated to A.R.R.O. and the dealers they support.
Going from a Mom and Pop business in 1974, we have grown to a full service archery store with indoor lanes stocking over 400 bows with 8 full time employees to serve our customer base. I feel I owe a lot of this to the support and pricing I received from A.R.R.O.
My biggest concern to archery is the “fly by night” dealers, mail order and the big box stores who end up selling new archers equipment that won’t work because they don’t take the time to fit them and they end up not being able to set up themselves. Many of these people never give archery another chance. They just feel it is not fun and they are not going to do it. As the big box stores, basement dealers and mail order companies continue to erode the customer base, the older service dealers start to fade away and these are the teachers that make the sport grow.
I firmly believe that A.R.R.O. has been a huge factor in helping our business grow to where we are now and putting us on a level playing field with the sporting goods giants. Any questions you might have, please feel free to contact me. |
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Administrative Director/Executive Secretary: |
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Lynn Stiklestad
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I grew up as an archery pro shop brat, similar to an army brat – playing and working endless hours in my parents archery pro shop in Wisconsin. I basically grew up with a bow in my hands and was around the business of archery all of my life. From making forts out of the cardboard targets, fletching endless dozens of arrows, shooting in leagues, writing up bow sales and hunting licenses, working the long hours during peak season to sitting in the tree on a crisp autumn day – I’ve done it. The business is what caught my interest and I was fortunate enough to be offered the job of working for ARRO in it’s early years. I have evolved to the Executive Secretary of ARRO and have spent over 22 years growing with the company. I have seen the organization grow from annual sales of a couple hundred thousand dollars to over ten million dollars in sales. When I started with ARRO I believe there were around 60 members and over the years I have seen over 290 retailers join ARRO. Several of these dealers have retired or sold their stores and we now have over 180 of the top archery retailers in the country. ARRO has opened the door for retailers to be more competitive and still be profitable at the business they love. The archery industry is quite small in comparison to the corporate world. Attending the annual ARRO Hot Show and the industry trade show is like a family reunion where everyone knows each other and looks forward to reconnecting and sharing ideas. Working with retailers and manufacturers has been wonderful and I believe archery will always be in my blood. |
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Office:
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Sylvia Hughes
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JoAnn Lien
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Kelli Killerlain
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