On March 5, 2014 BARS held its March meeting at the Billerica Public Library. Attendees: 18 Primary Agenda Item: Annual Election At 7:10 K0TV brought the meeting to order. A period of time was devoted to sharing memories of Mike Bernock, N1IW: our close friend, past president, fellow ham, sage, mentor and overall great guy. As clearly evidenced by the comments, Mike had a huge impact on the club, its members as well as many in the communities within which Mike served. He will be greatly missed. Old Business:
- N1HTS mentioned that he has one of the club PO Box keys.
- Information is being collected that relates to the club website that will be used for an eventual overhall.
New Business:
- There was some limited discussion about Gary’s (W1GFF) interest in running for club office. Since he was not present, his candidacy was not put forward.
- The following proposed slate was put forward and approved by voice vote:
- President: Mike Raisbeck (K1TWF)
- Vice President: Tom Walsh (K1TW)
- Treasurer: Bruce Anderson (W1LUS)
- Secretary: Erik Kramer (KE1V)
- BOD Member: Peter Norden (N1ALO)
- BOD Member: Peter Speen (K1SUB)
- Ex Officio: Jerry Muller (K0TV)
- After the election, Mike shared some of his vision for where he would like to head with the club. Some comments included:
- Having a friendly and welcoming environment
- A particular focus on attracting, welcoming and supporting new members.
- He has a list of ~100 “subhobbies” in amateur radio that he wanted to use as “seed information” to prompt new activities and/or programs at future club meetings. He intended on reviewing the list at the next club meeting.
- He mentioned that he wanted to broaden the scope of the club and issue a survey to collect feedback from the membership.
- Increasing some of the social aspects of the club was also important, especially using Field Day as an opportunity to bring the membership together and perform some outreach.
- Meeting venue:
- After some open discussion, it was decided to have the next couple of meetings at K1TWF’s house at 85 High St. in Chelmsford. The goal of this change in venue is to try out a more informal and welcoming setting and see how it worked out.
- “Bo” Budinger and Phil Temples offered that what new members wanted included:
- A fun environment
- An opportunity to exercise and expand their operating skills
- A place for Elmering and technical exchange to work their way up the learning curve.
- An environment where enthusiasm and knowledge was readily apparent and visibie.
- Other comments included:
- Miles suggested that we connect with a radio club at Chelmsford High School as an outreach opportunity. He thought that we could offer mentorship and perhaps hold some joint meetings
- It was suggested that we watch out for holding the meetings at someone’s house to ensure that attendees felt comfortable in that environment
- Consider using Field Day as a training day for new hams.
- Art Pizer was nominated as our Newbie Ambassador.
Other New Business:
- $225 was approved for the annual insurance payment.
- Some discussion about selling some unused club assets, including stuff located at MITRE (Al tower, an A3, etc.)
- K1SUB is willing to manage the sale. People should contact Peter directly with a list of what they have.
Adjournment: Meeting was closed at 8:35
