Numbers of members in attendance: 19
Meeting called to order at: 7:40
Tim Walker was given full Lifetime Membership, with all the privileges thereof. A memorial plaque presented to him by the club at large. Congratulations, Tim!
New members – Art Greenspan, General class, N1ARG. Greg & Jan Miller, KC1CRT, KC1CRU respectively. Welcome!
November minutes accepted.
Need to create a standing committee for Technical Committee, vote to create committee passed. Curt Seaton, W1FSM, made committee chair.
Elections:
Toy declared all seats vacant. No further nominations were from the floor. As only one person was running for each position a single vote was taken for the whole slate. 19 for, 0 against, 0 abstain. NV1P as President, N1LLL as VP, KB1VWJ as Secretary, KC1FB as Treasurer. 8:04 PM
New Business:
We would love your involvement with the new comms center, whether that’s painting, getting new furnishings, cleaning the place up, spearheading social gatherings or radio related fun. We welcome your ideas any way you can get them to us.
Some preliminary ideas pitched from the attending membership:
Talk to Michelle about donating old clothes, canned goods, etc, to fire victims (since we’re in the old fire station) via Roberta, KB1YOZ.
Scouting outreach via Dave Hayden, W1DVE.
Contesting/DX – getting the club operating during contesting via Dan, N1ZZ.
Why are we here? What does this club mean to you? Something to think about. What do you want to get out of it now that we have a place to meet?
Go read the bylaws if you haven’t. They’re important.
For various reasons the comm center should not be referred to as a clubhouse.
In order to facilitate greater membership involvement, we ask current members for their commitment in maintaining our new facility. The commitment would be for each member to pledge two hours of their time over the course of this year to the communications center. These duties would include maintenance and upgrades to the facility, such as cleaning tasks, general maintenance, or manning the radios. An hour of this time could also be fulfilled by assisting at Field Day setup, picnic setup, or being a member of a committee.
We also ask for assistance in helping to make our presence known in the events we participate in and thereby helping to make our club more successful. For this we request that each member volunteer in at least one event per year, such as the New York City Marathon or the Bloomin Metric Charity Ride. An alternative to this would be another two hours at the communications center during the year.
Committees were created for technical repairs and eBay sales so that when stuff comes in from SKs and other estates, we have someone to examine them and then sell them and raise money for the club and get rid of things we don’t need, and thereby increase the club’s operating budget. However, these positions are currently vacant. Anyone who wishes to volunteer for these important assignments should contact Sam at NV1P@arrl.net
Jess, ND1L, is the Official Grievance Aggregator. If you have an issue with the club that you don’t want to bring to the board directly you should speak to him. Otherwise, speak to any board member. An issue can’t be resolved if no one knows about it.
It’s time to pay you’re annual dues. The bylaws state that in order to be considered a member you MUST pay your dues by March 31st. This is important because not only does it add to the annual operating budget, but it also ensures that you’re covered under the clubs insurance
Do you have topics for presentations? Are you bursting to tell everyone about DMR, contesting, the wonders of CW, or something else dear to your heart? Ham classes? VE test sessions? Let Sam know.
Winter Field Day by SPAR is coming – we’re hosting. Laid back contest, bands not as crowded, come get your feet wet in contesting. Bring food! It’s inside! It’s warm! Come out! 12 PM 1/24 to 12 PM 1/25.
After Winter Field Day the radio room will be open to members starting Sat, January 31st. We’ll attempt to have it open every Saturday, but no concrete schedule can be worked out until enough people have been checked out as ok to monitor the room.
An EchoIRLP node will be added to the W1FSM 440 repeater in New Canaan.
Meeting adjourned at 9:07.
Upcoming Events:
Algonquin/Marlborough Ham Fest on Valentine’s Day, Saturday February 14th.
Greg (KC1CRT) is a member of the Explorers Club in NYC. GNARC was invited to come over at our convenience. Their club is trying to get updated. They boast three thousand members worldwide, have traditionally held a net and would like to get it back together. Their shack is up and running, would love to have us visit. They’re located at 70th between Park & Madison. Apollo artifacts, Polar exploration, Antarctica exploration, archives, lots to see. No date set yet.
