Hello, it has been a relatively quiet month of April, but on the other hand it was busy. I guess the big one is the Boston Marathon. That event came and went very successfully. From my seat, things went a lot smoother than ever. Everyone knew what to do and how to do it. Kudos and thanks to all those who woke up super early and helped out in the event.
One club that has been very dormant was the WPI club. This club has been around since 1920. They are now coming back to life which is fantastic. They do have a wrinkle though is they discovered an Asbestos problem in the station so they are closed until they fix it. They have been announcing nets and activities so take a moment and support them by checking into one of them.
A while back I announced that Phil K9HI was introducing an activity called Project Ascend which was active recruiting, outreach and mentoring resources, etc. An application to ARDC was submitted for a grant and sadly it got turned down. This pretty much killed the project. I think he had something with this concept. Can a section, or a club or clubs put something like that together? YES! It does take time, resources and willing participants but it is to grow the hobby. To provide new hams the guidance to get on the air, to welcome them to the hobby. Teaching new hams today are the mentors for tomorrow. I am not opposed to hearing someone’s idea about this. I have a staff of tech specialists who would love to help a ham with a tech issue.
Speaking of staff, have you ever thought about being a volunteer for the Western Ma section? I do have a number of positions that need filling and our ARES program needs people as well. Really, the big requirement is they are active and participating! Assisting me in projects that may crop up. One position is a Asst Section Manager to visit clubs, reporting to me or even coming up with a cool idea. I would love to have one that knows their way around a website. Gil WK1H does a great job with this site, but can use some help as well as he has job, family, etc. Having someone like this can also help with clubs and even myself develop a more attractive website which interacts with our social media stuff. SEC Chuck WS1L needs DEC’s and EC’s. We need people to help in developing an emergency communication system. There is a plan, but no one to help!
Another thing I am planning on is trying to get NTS traffic handling more established in WMA. Smoke signals don’t work anymore! There are nets that can restart traffic handling and maybe start it up to boost their own net activity. I am planning on setting up a training webinar to provide instruction on how to properly pass traffic. It will be conducted by current and experienced traffic handlers. More on that to follow.
Did you notice something? I didn’t start this off with mentioning the weather! I hope you enjoy my report and please give some thought as to helping this old buzzard out.
Thanks so much and 73,
Ray AA1SE