Former Winchester employee

[casonet]

I am local to the Kansas City area and belong to a private shooting club known as the Saddle and Sirloin Club. It has been around since the 1930s and has a number of very senior members. One member whom I came to know very briefly was a gentleman known as Fred Blanche. Fred passed away last year at age 92 but was an active visitor to the club until the time of his death. Talking with him, I learned that at one time he was an employee of WRA and he knew John Olin faily well. Unfortunately we didn't get into a lot of the details of what his job was and how he knew Mr. Olin. He showed me a couple of pictures of himself with Mr. Olin, so I know that it wasn't BS. He had a trophy case in his basement with dozens of awards and patches from Winchester going back to the 1940s. Shortly before he passed away, I showed him my 1960 custom shop Grand American and he looked at it lovingly for several minutes before he uttered a word and with tears in his eyes he asked me; "where did you get this?". I really wish I had gotten to know him better. Has anyone ever heard of this man? Does anyone have any information on his relationship with Winchester?

[Grant Tom]

I am local to the Kansas City area and belong to a private shooting club known as the Saddle and Sirloin Club. It has been around since the 1930s and has a number of very senior members. One member whom I came to know very briefly was a gentleman known as Fred Blanche. Fred passed away last year at age 92 but was an active visitor to the club until the time of his death. Talking with him, I learned that at one time he was an employee of WRA and he knew John Olin faily well. Unfortunately we didn't get into a lot of the details of what his job was and how he knew Mr. Olin. He showed me a couple of pictures of himself with Mr. Olin, so I know that it wasn't BS. He had a trophy case in his basement with dozens of awards and patches from Winchester going back to the 1940s. Shortly before he passed away, I showed him my 1960 custom shop Grand American and he looked at it lovingly for several minutes before he uttered a word and with tears in his eyes he asked me; "where did you get this?". I really wish I had gotten to know him better. Has anyone ever heard of this man? Does anyone have any information on his relationship with Winchester?

I was aquainted with all the members @ the custom shop before the sale to USRA. His name does not ring a bell. If you want I can contact Nick Kusmit & find out if he knows him. Me E Mail: Gtom03@verizon.net. I also got to know John Olin before he passed away. He invited me to his Nilo Farm for lunch & Hunt.

Grant Tom

[casonet]

I ask some of the old timers at the club and a couple of them knew of his history with Winchester. Both told me he was in sales and probably a sales manager with line salesmen reporting to him. I was also told that this may have been in the Ft. Worth Texas area and that his time with Winchester was probably more than 30 years ago. Yes, anything that you come up with, I would be pleased to know. Thanks