Stan Frost started shooting as a Cadet in 1953 and shot his first fullbore annual prize meeting in 1954. He has represented Canada in 24 Bisley Teams and four Palma Teams. He has coached cadets in smallbore and in fullbore Target Rifle has coached regional, provincial and national teams at various international competitions. He has twice served as Bisley Team Commandant, has been Adjutant twice and Vice-Commandant once.
Stan’s involvement in administration of the DCRA began in 1976 after he moved to Ottawa. He has been a Council member since 1984 and a member of the Executive Committee since 1986. He has served on or chaired most committees, including Finance, Rules, Smallbore, SFC Liaison, Programme, Legislation, and International Teams. During his six years as Comptroller, he initiated the DCRA move into the equity market, creating both capital growth and income for operations. In 1996 he was elected Executive Vice-President, a post he filled for a record 15 years. He took on this challenge during a difficult period for the DCRA. Since its inception, the association had received an annual government grant but in the late 1980s and early 1990s successive governments had frozen the grant, then reduced it. In 1991 use of Service Air was terminated, thus denying free air transport for Bisley Teams. Finally, in 1995 both the government grant and the annual ammunition allotment were cancelled. Some viewed this as the coup de grâce for the DCRA, but with a supportive Executive Committee and a dedicated staff, Stan nursed the association through those difficult years.
Stan’s continuing interest in Target Rifle rules and his hope of developing unified international rules kept him serving on an International Rules Committee, which had been initiated by the NRA of Great Britain. During the 1999 Palma Match, the participating countries agreed to form an international federation. Stan was one of a small group who wrote the constitution for what became the International Confederation of Fullbore Rifle Associations. For his sins, he was elected the first President of ICFRA, a position which he held from 2002 to 2007.
In 2003, Stan was elected as Chairman of the Board of the newly formed Canadian Pavilion at Bisley Limited. By 2001 it was recognised that maintenance of the Macdonald Stewart Canadian Pavilion at Bisley had become a financial burden to the DCRA. Concurrently, a market existed for use of the Pavilion when the Teams were not in-house. The solution was the creation of a British company to operate the Pavilion on behalf of the DCRA with profits going toward Pavilion maintenance. That move improved the financial situation but ultimate success lies in the future.
