Section Manager Report November 2022

Hello, welcome to another silly season. Why I call it that? Simply look around you. Everything goes into hyper-drive. The stores barrage you with ads 5 times a day. Black Friday has grown and had offspring. People have to deal with multiple pressures in concentrated form. Just remember to get away from it for a while, cozy up to some coffee and send some holiday greetings to a far-off land in whatever mode you wish. And of course, I wish you all a wonderful Holiday Season as well.

I guess the big thing from the League is a new operating event will take place all year for 2023. It is called “Volunteers on the Air”. If some may recall in 2014 when we had the Centennial, we had a similar event where each state will have a turn at operating with the W1AW call sign with a designator. League employees and officials will have points assigned to their position so we will all be hunted down. Clubs will be included where the club call sign will have a point value as well. This will be on the normal contest bands from 160-10, no repeaters. LOTW will be used for the event. Stay tuned for more details. Should be a fun event.

Our Affiliated Club Coordinator Larry W1AST will be reaching out to the clubs in the section to introduce himself and to possibly visit some meetings as well. He is looking to assist in ensuring clubs are growing and that you have the resources needed for that. We are here to help but keep in mind the other part to success is taking an active part in it. One person cannot do it alone.

The WMA Train and Test group just completed our Tech class course and we have our sights on doing an Extra class. Needless to say, this one will be a doozy, but one that does not happen a lot. More on that later. Since we started this last year I have seen some of our graduates become active in one or more clubs and are looking to advance their license class. I cannot say enough that mentoring is and needs to be an important part of the radio journey. These graduates are also promoting the hobby already which is what this section REALLY needs! Keep up the fine work and thanks to those that work with me in making this a success.

I truly hope again that everyone has a fabulous Holiday Season. Always remember to look beyond the chaos and embrace the true meaning of the season.

Yours truly and Thank you!
Ray AA1SE