Hall of Famers

The newest inductee is George R. Gardner, President of TenPoint. He was inducted into the 2008 class of the National Archery Hall of Fame in a ceremony held January 8, 2009, during the annual Archery Trade Association Show in Indianapolis.

George has spent most of his working life in the archery industry, but his fascination with the bow and arrow and his contributions to the sport as a competitive shooter, organizer, and big game hunter began to unfold as an 18-year-old back in 1946
when he discovered it was more fun to hunt deer with a bow than with a gun.

Over the years as a competitive archer he won numerous local, state and national archery tournaments. He is a co-founder, charter member and former vice president of the Professional Archers Association. He has served as president of the Detroit
Metropolitan Archers Association and the Michigan Archers Association, vice president of the Michigan Bowhunters, and Field Governor for the N.F.A.A. He has also served on the American Archery Council, is a member of the Anderson Archery Hall of Fame and was the organizing founder of the Diana’s, the first group to promote awareness of women’s bowhunting opportunities and issues.

George began his career in the industry in 1960 as a sales representative working first for Pearson and then Shakespeare Archery. By 1963 he had become the
National Sales Manager for Indian Industries. In the early seventies, he started his own independent manufacturers’ representative business, which evolved into the G.R. Gardner and Co. and a 21-year career as, one of the top five Easton Arrow Distributorships in the country. Then, in 1994, he and Rick Bednar, with a group of additional investors, founded what is now TenPoint Crossbow Technologies.

The impressive trophy room added to his home in Southgate Michigan is a testament to the many African trips he has made in pursuit of his love of big game hunting. While he would be happy to catch the next flight for a new African adventure, he now spends most of his hunting days at his deer camp just above Claire, Michigan where he and his wife, Betty, hunt with family and friends and where each year they host a group of 20 to 25 youngsters who spend the day shooting bows, crossbows, and bb guns.

George joins two of our other director/owners as Hall of Fame members. In 2007, Bill Bednar, retired, was inducted into the National Archery Hall of Fame, and Chuck Jordan, our Director of Business Development, was inducted into the Bowhunters Hall of Fame. The combined archery and bowhunting expertise these three men have brought to our company have clearly contributed to TenPoint becoming the industry leader in crossbow technology and performance.