As a good friend and blogging peer of Rick Olson, the President of the Londonderry Fish and Game Club [LFGC], I have long been aware of the false accusations against them and the defamation suit they filed in response. Some local Litchfield residents who bought a home near a gun club that had been there for decades before their home was even built, wrongfully accused the club and then went on a public PR campaign to smear them.
Without a shred of actual evidence.
Or, I have to add, any sense of the resolve of the club president, its board, or their willingness to defend themselves from false accusations.
Several years of litigation and what can only be described as a stubborn determination by the false accusers to be right, regardless of facts, physics, or contrary evidence, hint at a form of derangement syndrome. I do not know the politics of the accusers, but I could guess. Whether there is evidence of TDS or not is unclear, but they did show signs of LFGCDS.
Londonderry Fish and Game Club Derangement Syndrome. I speculate only out of an obligation to allege conduct, not to presume it, but the evidence for this is strong, as expressed in the Lawsuit conclusion statement issued by LFGC after a settlement.
The Londonderry Fish & Game Club recently concluded its legal proceedings against Janine and Kevin Anctil of Litchfield. Following more than three years of litigation, which included extensive motion practice, discovery, and depositions, the Anctil’s’ home insurance carrier provided a settlement payment of $75,000.00 to the Club, thereby resolving the matter prior to a trial in the Rockingham County Superior Court.
This outcome represents a significant achievement for LFGC. While it is wholly regrettable that legal action was required, this resolution affirms the Club’s commitment to defending its reputation against unfounded allegations. In a climate where firearms remain a contentious issue despite their constitutional status, safeguarding our standing is essential to ensuring our continued 75-year legacy.
You can read the entire thing to get a sense for yourself, but here’s a bit more to tease the palate.
Despite the apparent realization by the Anctil’s that they had no grounds for a lawsuit, and after receiving extensive data from Attorney List clearly demonstrating that the alleged bullet strike on their garage did not originate from the Club, the Anctil’s persisted in making defamatory statements about the Club. They ignored the facts and continued to publicly blame the Club for incidents that could not have involved the Club’s facilities. For example, the Anctil’s attributed alleged bullet strikes in their neighborhood to the 200- and 400-yard ranges, even though these incidents occurred before those ranges existed.
They went nuts online, spoke before local town boards, and may (If I recall correctly) have gone on local TV news to talk about their “concerns.”
LFGC eventually retained a nationally known ballistic expert who determined, using math and science rather than a presumptive dislike based on who knows what, that it was extremely unlikely the bullet strike originated with LFGC.
The wooded areas between LFGC and the Anctil’s are notorious for illegal and often irresponsible range practice over which LFGC has no control. The town knows it, the police know it, LFGC knows it, and I suspect the residents in the abutting neighborhood know it.
Blaming LFGC is easy.
Well, it was, until now.
The waiting list to join the LFGC is long, so get on it now.
LFGC also has a great Facebook page.
Disclosure: LFGC President Rick Olson has been contributing to Granitegrok.com since 2010. This author and his wife (and sometimes his son) regularly have dinner (in or out) with him, his wife, or his family. In other words, we know each other.
