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Category B - Bowhunters
who have shown Excellence in the Design and Manufacturing of Archery
Equipment
If you ever picked up a bow and
shot an arrow, it could of very well been a Tru-flite arrow. Today, Tru-Flite
Arrow out of Monticello,
Indiana, is
the world's largest arrow manufacturer. The man most responsible for the
success of this archery manufacturing success story is the Tru-Flite's
elder statesman, Ray Gooding.
It was essentially Fred Bear who introduced Ray to arrow
manufacturing. Ray says, "If it hadn't been for Fred Bear, archery
probably wouldn't have existed," Ray demurred recently from his Monticello offices, "I feel that strong about
that."
Ray is a WWII veteran and served as a Sea Bee in the U.S. Navy. Ray
harvested his first deer in 1945 with a recurve bow on a hunting trip in Michigan. And later in
the early 60s, as a K-Mart employee, part of his managerial rounds was
to set up demonstrations in K-Mart parking lots to teach the district's
men how to fly fish and shoot bows and arrows. The interest he created
in archery created greater demand for equipment and supplies. Namely
"arrows" and he went on and in June 1968 and bought Tru-Flite Arrow
Company.
With Tru-Flite, Ray Gooding found a niche. A lot of manufacturers
made arrows as sidelines. But, because they made only arrows, Tru-Flite
instantly became the number one arrow manufacturer. In those early
years, Ray's newly acquired company produced only a few dozen arrows
each day. As technology evolved, productivity increased. And in 1992
alone, Tru-Flite produced over 11 million arrows. Yes, today Tru-Flite
ships arrows to 38 countries.
Ray also takes great pride in teaching youngsters to shoot. Tru-Flite
routinely donates arrows and other equipment to youth organizations.
Family is important to Ray, who grew up on a farm. "If you can hold the
families together, this whole world would be different."
Ray is credited for developing advanced assembly lines and for his
automatic fletching machines. Besides being named one of 50 who made a
difference in archery, Ray has received numerous citations from the Boy
Scouts of America.
Today, Tru-Flite is very much a family affair.
His great nephew John serves as President and his stepson Richard serves
as Vice President. And today Tru-Flite is still just as dedicated to
teaching the virtues of archery to America's youth.
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