The President’s Message for October 2022
Calling all the GCARA hams! I have some important information for you. First, allow me to remind you that as the year draws to an end, we are focusing on elections of the executive board for 2023. There are many things to be done. First, in order to vote, you must pay your dues. They must be brought current by November 21, 2022, so if you are in a grace period or you have lapsed and still want to participate in the club with us, kindly and quickly, bring your account current as soon as possible.
Second, the Board has heard people’s opinion about the opportunity to vote in the elections. We are sensitive to the people who support us but have difficulty in being present at our Zoom meetings to vote. We have decided to offer an alternative way to vote by mail or by Proxy. Upon request, we will send ballots to members by mail and they may vote and get their ballot mailed back in to the GCARA Post office address no later than November 21, 2022. You may also choose someone who will be able to attend the meeting by giving that person written permission to cast your vote for you. Just as there will be the proposed slate, we will accept nominations of people from the floor at our November meeting, who wish to run for office.
In the event that you want to help us with our many projects and do not want to hold an office, there are many ways you can help the Board execute the projects at hand. All are invited and welcome to share the experience. Please let me know and I will pass it on to the powers that be.
So far, our proposed slate is as follows:
President: Erik Olmer W3EJO
Vice President: Ricki Witte KJ4FSJ
Secretary: Ben Echavarria N7BBE
Treasurer: Robert “Liggy” Ligum KN4WII
Director/PIO: Thomas Savoca K9TJS
Director at Large: Melanie Fernandez KJ4VCT
Trustee: Ricky Eaton KD4HGR
If you wish to run for any office above, kindly contact Barry Porter KB1PA, our nominating Committee so we can get you on the ballot. Nominations will be accepted until November 22, 2022 meeting. In the event that 2 people want to run for the same office, they will have to be voted on at the time of the meeting and the quorum of paid members present will vote. Up to now, we are unaware of anyone other than those noted on the slate, who wish to run.
I wish at this time, to thank the outgoing Board members for their dedication to serving the club this past year. First, I would like to recognize our current secretary and webmaster, Charlie Artner KN4VDW. Charlie has unselfishly lent his creative talents to the club by producing impeccable, true and accurate meeting notes both for the Board meetings and the general meetings. This has taken much time to do as it means that besides attending the meetings, he reviews the tapes of the meetings to fact check and organize the information. He has made so many valuable contributions to the Board, it is hard to list them all, however one of my favorite items is the to do log of projects he keeps with “due dates”. It keep us all aware of what we are trying to achieve in a timely manner. Charlie, being both computer savvy and artistic, has given us a very nice website which has been updated in a timely manner. He has also generated all of the emails of upcoming events, meetings and general information for the club. He was responsible for obtaining some interesting speakers during the first half of the year which greatly improved the quality of our programs.
Last, but not least, he has designed the systems for contacting us and the forms for signing up for events, or membership of the club. Charlie is a very thoughtful and thorough person whose creative abilities will be hard to match. Thank you, Charlie, for all of the best that you have given us. I appreciate it and will miss you as you relocate your family to Georgia.
Jeff Stahl K4BH, has been the very able Director/Parliamentarian for the club as well as handling the VE responsibilities for the club. Although his plate is full of many important duties such as serving as Ares Officer, serving on another Amateur Radio Board (Boca Raton Amateur Radio Club), handling leadership of his CAP squadron, working on the Winterfest Parade communications with his partner Carol Sjursen KJ4AWB, being an active CERT member and offering his astute technical skills to the club, he has found time to give us his help time and time again throughout the years. I deeply appreciate his friendship to GCARA and myself, as it has made my duties easier. Now, with family members needing him more and other commitments calling him, Jeff has need to step down from this and some other activities to better serve those other commitments. Thanks, Jeff, for all of your hard work and expertise and know that it will be hard to replace you on the Board.
As most of you already know, I am stepping down from the top leadership position of the Board so that the club can continue to grow and appeal to younger people in the hobby. Every person on the slate is a go getter and a leader in their own right and I look forward to the different flavor of the Board next year. I would like to continue to serve in any capacity needed and to offer my full support of the new Board. A leader is only as good as the people he surrounds himself with and I am honored to say that I have worked with many of the best hams I know and I have learned a lot during my time as President from everyone I have worked with. Many hands make light work and it is not work when you are having FUN. I always say that with all of the cooperation that I have had during my tenure and all of the talent people have lent to me, it has been a pleasure to serve you. We may all be smart in our own ways but in combination, we can be genius!
God bless every member, every person with a servant’s heart and may 2023 outshine our every accomplishment thus far.
With love,
Melanie