The Silver Bullet

In 1987, Terry Klepey ran an ad in "Comic Buyers Guide" asking for $1 to help pay for the next two Lone Ranger newsletters.  He received four requests, and on January 15, 1988 the first issue of "The Silver Bullet" was published.  The first issue sported the tagline "A Lone Ranger Newsletter for Enthusiasts & Collectors".

"The Silver Bullet" is the basis upon which The Lone Ranger Fan Club was founded.  Terry and his wife, Kay, published 58 issues of this "newsletter".  It came out every quarter and was filled with information about collectibles, new merchandise, and regular updates on Clayton Moore.  In 2002, Terry passed the reins over to Joe Southern with 120 subscribers.

The Lone Ranger Fan Club

During Joe's first year publishing "The Silver Bullet", he and his wife, Sandy, added almost 80 additional subscribers.  In June 2003 with issue 63, they officially launched The Lone Ranger Fan Club.  Membership in the fan club cost $30 and came with

"a one-year subscription to the Silver Bullet, a wallet-sized membership card, an 8 by 10 membership certificate and an 8 by 10 color photo".

The Southerns saw the fan club through some exciting times for the Lone Ranger and the fan club.  The WB network aired a new two-hour Lone Ranger movie…Issue 67 brought color to “The Silver Bullet” for the first time…all subscribers to “The Silver Bullet” became members of the club, and it became the official fan club publication…the fan club started its first website…and in 2008, they led the club in celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Lone Ranger at the Memphis Film Festival. 

As Joe and Sandy’s family grew, they decided it was time for the club to switch hands.  After eight years and 35 issues, they handed the fan club to Circle C Enterprises, run by Garry Cherricks.

Circle C Enterprises published their first “Silver Bullet” in March 2011, releasing it as an “e-publication”.  They started The Lone Ranger Fan Club Facebook group as an area for fans, both members and non-members, to gather and share stories and information about the Lone Ranger.  In August of 2022, Garry approached Michael Trotochaud, a longtime fan club member and an administrator of the Facebook group, about taking over ownership of the fan club.

Garry and Michael started the transition in September 2022.  On January 1, 2023, Michael assumed the reins.  Realizing the ways people used the internet has changed since the first website was created, Michael redesigned the website to be mobile friendly and launched TheLRFC.org.