September 2008 Letter from the Prez

Summer is winding down and it’s time to start thinking about getting back to the monthly Saturday meetings. The officers have been working all summer to find new and exciting programs for you. This month we have James Flaten Ph.D. of the University of Minnesota. He will talk to us about high altitude balloons and amateur radio. This is a must see presentation and an activity with stunning photos.

Field Day is over and we did have fun. We didn’t break any score records but we had fun and ate very well. The turn out was not what I anticipated due to Field Day falling on the July 4th week. I learned a lot about organizing a big event and have some ideas on how to make Field Day 2009 more fun and less work.

I guess I should also tell all of you that I have a new call sign, KØBR. I’ve wanted the right 1x2 call sign since I got my Extra class license. The first one I applied for with my initials (NØRB) was about I year ago, I lost to a guy from Texas. If you don’t live in Ø land, should you be allowed to apply for a vanity call from that zone? Anyway, this one came up and there were three others trying for it. I was the lucky one. Now I can write my name RicKØBRennan. Pretty neat, huh.

While searching for ideas to make SARA better, I kept looking for new activities, technology, or something special to generate new interest. I finally realized/learned that SARA is a social club of friends. We do lots of different things and there is a vast array of talents and interests. Most people join SARA because it is a friendly club. How do we make SARA better? We have more friendly social events.

We’ve been struggling with the news letter since taking it over from Dave OXB. It is a big production to put this out every month, just ask Dave. The secretary just does not have the time to continue editing the news letter. Dave has graciously accepted (due to all my begging) to edit the September news letter. Thank you very much Dave! In the interest of using technology, we are going to put all the news and information that has been in the news letter in to our new website. This will eliminate a lot of work and allow us to get more and better information to you faster. Unless we have a significant number of members object to this, we will retire the news letter after the September edition. This is the way of the future and many organizations have or will go to this form of media. If you don’t have internet access, you might try the library or a friend that does. For those that absolutely do not have access to the internet, we will provide paper copies of the articles but they will not be as nicely formatted as this news letter.

The new website! Yes, we have a new website. The IT committee has been working all summer on a new website. John Harvard KCØUHY and Pat Tice WAØTDA have put in a lot of hours creating the new site. Dave Glas WØOXB and I have been giving them our opinions and advice (wanted or not). Let us know your suggestions to make this website better. Thanks to all involved in the new website.

Rick Brennan
SARA President