Growth and Transitions
2021 was a banner year for growth of our club. We reached a new membership high ( 224 active members) and the number of activities reached an all-time high. We were able to expand our Build Club to include introductory and intermediate level kit building that included some of the most basic and advanced kits we have ever built. We had outreach activities that included Hams in the Park, the Evanston 100 Cycle Event and the Chicago Marathon, all of which went very, very well. We held a club sale that netted the club over $3000 to be applied toward our yearly maintenance of some of the best repeaters in the Chicagoland area. We were able to secure facilities at the Deerfield Water Tower so that some of our repeaters at the soon to be sold Allstate site could have a new home. Our mentorship program launched with the help of many volunteer mentors to help newly minted hams with Elmers. Our VE program has been operating with newly developed software at the Northbrook Public Library on a monthly basis and helps to add some of these applicants to our Membership roles. The time from taking the FCC exams (now automated on our computers) to receiving a license has been shorted from weeks to a couple of days. And all this happened because of your involvement in making our club one of the premier organizations in the country. Thanks to all that made this happen.
With the coming month of December, we are nominating some new folks to our Board of Directors, and building out our Board to have succession planning included by approving some new volunteers who want to serve on our Board. We will have depth for the first time so that if we lose a Board member, we will be able to tap some of our additional volunteers to replace anyone who leaves.
October kicked off our 2022 membership drive and now is the best time to renew your membership and save the $5.00 by signing up before December 31. 2021.
We continue to solicit good ideas for programs for next year. The quality of our programs continues to draw praise from our membership and well thought out programs continue to educate and inform our members of the latest in technology and gear. If you have ideas for programs, please contact our Program Director, Dave, WW9S with those ideas. We also plan to hold another club sale in the early Spring to raise additional capital to help supplement the fees our club pays for our repeater sites and club events.
Since this is November, it’s wise to check your outdoor antenna connections to make sure they are ready to handle the water and ice that winter brings. Usually by December, it is to late to make those checks. Preventative maintenance saves lots of frustration.
Well, that’s it for November. Enjoy some winter contests as we hibernate for the winter months.
73,
Burt KR9T