Roadside Marker

To the Paintball Media,

I recently completed a very interesting search for the actual location of the first formal game of paintball. We all know from the history books that it was played somewhere in Henniker, New Hampshire on June 27th, 1983, but until now we haven't known exactly where in Henniker that first game was played.

The story of how that field was found is detailed in a five-part series of articles - http://68caliber.com/?p=7530 (I think you'll find it pretty interesting.)

Now that the location has been found, I have begun the process of having a roadside marker erected at the location in order to commemorate the event.

While paintball has several museums and libraries and continues to attempt to cement its place in sports history, such a marker would represent the first truly permanent citation of the game.

The requirements for having the sign erected are fairly straight forward (20 NH resident signatures on a petition, approval of the wording for the sign, proof of the event and verification of the location, purchase price of the sign: far more detail on this is available on the website under the HISTORIC MARKER menu tab) NONE of this will happen without the assistance and cooperation of the paintball community.

I have made a PayPal account available for collecting donations ( http://68caliber.com/?page_id=7649) and have prepared a downloadable PDF petition form ( http://68caliber.com/?page_id=7647). I have also created a Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Erect-an-Historic-Roadside-Marker-for-Paintball/124523787585517?created that will shortly replicate the same information.

I would greatly appreciate it if you would pass this information along to your readers and participants. The entire process takes approximately a year and it would be nice if we can have the marker emplaced on or near the date of the 30th anniversary of our sport.

This effort is being conducted in cooperation with Robert Gurnsey (he is helping to write the draft of the sign wording); any funds raised in excess of that required to place the sign will be donated to his fight against leukemia.

I have attached a copy of a mock up image of what the sign may look like for you to use. If you would like to replicate the information provided on the various Historic Marker pages, please feel free to do so. If you need additional information, do not hesitate to contact me.

Thank you very, very much for your assistance in this matter.

Sincerely,

Steve Davidson
Editor, 68Caliber.com