Improving on the "New Normal"

Well, patience has its rewards.  As the country and our club emerge from the Covid pandemic, we are beginning to see the impact of our vaccination efforts.

We are finally resuming our VE sessions, although not at our usual location, as of yet. A shout out to Cary, KD9ITO for making that happen for us in Melrose Park.

Our Build Club is resuming an ambitious schedule, thanks to the leadership of Art, N9AEP and Evan, AC9TU.  Still in virtual mode, but hopefully very soon in person.

Saturday Breakfast at Max’s is a thing again, although at a slightly later hour (8:30 am) and for those fully vaccinated and with the hopes that we can still keep a virtual crowd via GoToMeeting broadcasting from Max’s for those too distant to make it in person. Derick, AB9PR put on an excellent virtual presentation on introduction to Ham Radio via a Northbrook Library Zoom session and it was very well received.  Don, KK9H fielded questions from the audience on how to get licensed, costs to get started, and types of equipment needed to get started in our hobby. Greg, W9GAK has successfully installed a Winlink node at our Park Tower location and encourages everyone to try it out.  Those that already have are raving about its performance. Finally, Rob, K9RST has indicated both the Evanston Century 100 and the Chicago Marathon appear to be a “go” for this year.

We have learned that “virtual” is not necessarily a bad term and it will continue to help us “meet” until we either successfully negotiate with Heller Nature Center or find a new venue for our club activities. It is still too early to determine what our future meetings may look like and we may attempt a hybrid combination of online and in-person meetings when we first begin “live meetings” again. 

I am happy to see that various communities are starting to revive in-person hamfests again.  Our club has been accumulating a number of items from our membership and we continue to solicit donations.  We are in the planning stages for our own virtual/in-person auction very soon.  BTW, It is never too late to clear out your old and excess equipment and donate it to the club. A significant portion of our revenue is funded by our donations. Please contact me if you have anything to donate at KR9T@arrl.net.

We are beginning to see some uptick in our membership from some very young hams (11-12 year olds) and this is very encouraging.  We need to continue to reach out to these members to encourage and mentor them as they represent the future of ham radio.  Whatever we can do to support their interests will pay dividends in the future.

As I have done in the past two issues of this blog, I would again like to recognize some of our unsung heroes that make our club so successful. Derick Bonewitz, AB9PR, who I previously mentioned put on our Introduction to Ham Radio course at the Northbrook Library has been a consistently high performer in our efforts to make community outreach.  The effort and research he did to construct this course clearly demonstrated his commitment to fostering our club’s public relations face to our community.  It was extremely well designed and received extremely positive reviews from those in attendance. He is planning on reprising this event for sessions in Vernon Hills.  As a former Board member, he has guided our club to the premier status it holds among radio clubs.  He is always ready to assist whenever he is called upon.  Thanks, Derick for all that you do!

Another of our unsung heroes is Cary Willis, KD9ITO.  Behind the scenes, he has secured the Melrose Park Senior Center for use as a VE testing site, spent countless hours one-on-one with club applicants, answering questions and mentoring them, and encouraging their membership in our club.  He has been our go-to guy for all things DMR.  When auction time comes around, he has spent significant time inventorying and pricing items for auction and picking up and carrying items to and from our storage site.  He is a primary supporter of our young hams and promotes the efforts of the Illinois Young Hams organization. As if that were not enough, he is often found in the background on our Thursday evening nets, helping net operators log participants.  Thanks Cary, for all that you do behind the scenes for the club.

Well, until next month, that’s it for now.  Continue to stay safe and stay active in our hobby.

73,

Burt KR9T