Seasons greetings to all Hams and their loved ones.
I have the honour to address the clubs’ membership through the president's message. With the recent resignation of 2 dedicated individuals from the board including our club president, I had the opportunity to let my name stand for the executive at the November general meeting. At the end of my first executive meeting in early December, I stood as the club's president.
I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you all for the countless volunteer hours by previous and current club members, not only executive members, but all the various aspects of our club from club memberships, to coffee and donuts at our meetings, and many more!
This club keeps moving forward thanks to all of it's dedicated club members and the hours they put in. Thank you!
There is some very important work currently on-going in the club. A few key items I see, are as follows.
2016 Casino Funds - The executive is currently reviewing all submitted projects from its members and approving projects and funds as we wind down the available funds from the previous Casino.
2018 Casino - There is ongoing work in preparing for the 2018 Casino. Please take the time to review the information regarding the 2018 casino on our website. The more volunteers we have the easier the work is. The funds raised through the Casino events help fund most of the CARA projects over the next 2 years. The 2018 Casino is scheduled for Thursday, March 8th and Friday, March 9th.
Club Rooms and remote operations committees - Committees have been struck and are working feverishly to gather information to make a recommendation back to the executive and its members on how to proceed in these respective regards. The membership has identified these key items to help the club move forward and I certainly look forward to their recommendations.
There are many other projects and important work that is on-going. Be sure to read up about all club activities on our website. Members who login to the website have access to a treasure trove of content (as I am discovering).
The executive has also decided to move forward on organizing an Advanced Amateur Radio Class to begin in January. Stay tuned for updated information on our website regarding the class. With the increasing interest of operating remote stations, amateurs are reminded that Advanced qualifications are required to operate such stations. I encourage any members interested in operating the remote stations or increasing (or in many cases validating) your level of knowledge in our hobby to take the course to update your qualifications.
Although I have been around Ham Radio all my life thanks to my father... it was the CARA courses, both basic and advanced that allowed me to obtain my ham radio qualifications! Kudos to all current and past instructor volunteers!
In closing, I look forward to serving out the rest of the current executive's term as President and ensuring that the Club keeps serving its mandate of having fun and serving our community for its members.
Thank you and 73 de VE6NR, Stephane Raimbault
