Greetings and Happy New Year 2021!
I hope that everyone had a very nice holiday season in 2020 despite the extraordinary circumstances of the pandemic and political climate. Let’s all pray that the USA will get over the pain and suffering of 2020 and rise to new levels of greatness for ALL of its peoples.
We will continue our Zoom meetings this year until we have assurances that the risk of infections will be diminished. Meanwhile the Board has plenty to do this year organizing our Virtual reality.
First of all this year, please keep in mind that this is Winter Field Day Month (Jan. 30, 31). We will practice our skills from home either on our own equipment OR the HF station. Please contact Joe McGee (954-782-3543) at your earliest convenience with what you desires for the weekend are. We need to schedule usage of HF station if it is in high demand. Our first meeting of 2021 will cover what our guidelines for our Winter Field Day will be. For more information, kindly go online to www.winterfieldday.com and read all about what we can and cannot do. It is well written and informative and answers everyone’s general questions. We will cover specifics, like reporting your contacts, etc. at our first general meeting and by Mail Chimp for those who cannot attend.
Second, the Board will be doing some cosmetic work on our By-Laws as it had come to my attention that some of the areas had not had the intended corrections made and that some areas were ambiguous. We will vote on the perfected by-laws at our first general meeting and they will be distributed by Mail Chimp before hand for your perusal.
Third, and very important to do, our annual dues are DUE!! It costs $30.00 for a single membership and $50.00 for a couple or family membership. This is a very important time of year as it funds us for our costs and gives us some idea of what we can do for benefit of the club projects. We are limited only by our imaginations and Income. It is nice to see what we will have to work with so our planning can begin. Our Treasurer Erik Olmer W4EJO has set up an invoice system and now our dues can be paid either by Pay Pal, Personal Check or other arrangements can be made for cash payments. As we are becoming a 501 ( c) (3) entity, we look forward to many more perks, like the tax benefits of donating money to the club for Special Projects. Please bear in mind that this concept is new to us and we will have a learning curve with it but proper explanations will be made in due time.
If any of our members would like to feature their history in ham radio and their shack in a Power Point Presentation for the group I am in need of two hams to do so. Hopefully this will be a sort of show and tell of the shack and your ideas to streamline it. It is hoped that not only will we get to know our members better but we will learn from other’s efforts. Please contact Melanie @ Earthmother1950@gmail.com with your ideas and your tentative presentations. This is a good time of year to let me know what you would like to learn this year, as I always try to bring the most information possible to the club.
I want to take this opportunity to say an en masse thank you for each and every member of the club. Many of you have corresponded with me over the years and I have been so honored that you have done so. I count every person as important and thank you for your continued support. I hope that this year is no different.
God bless everyone this year in good health, prosperity to continue on, and with gratitude for all we have in this country. We sometimes forget how fortunate we are to live in the USA. God bless America!
Warmest regards,
Melanie Fernandez, KJ4VCT