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NPARC Executive Committee Meeting Minutes  January 27, 2005 1. Calendar Issues The school is closed on March 28, so the second March meeting will be held on Tuesday March 29. (Note: this has been changed. There will be a meeting on March 28th not the 29th but it will be in the New Providence Municipal Building (site of previous auctions) The school is also closed the week of April 11 so there will be no meeting on April 11 or 12. The only meeting in April will be on the 25th. The school closes for the summer in mid-June, so the committee agreed to simply suspend meetings for the summer. (Reasons: difficulty in finding an alternative meeting place; low attendance in summers). The June 13th meeting will be the last until September 12th. To stay in touch during the summer, club members are encouraged to participate in the Sunday night voice net. 2. Event Planning Auction: Al K2AL has reserved the school cafeteria for Friday April 8. Ralph KC2RLM will handle all internet announcements (ARRL, email to local clubs). Barry K2JVwill mail a flyer to past attendees. Everyone is encouraged to find donated items to be auctioned (100% profit to the club). Hobby Day at the Mountain Park School  in Berkeley Heights on April 22:  Barry K2JV would like us to participate again with radio stations and Morse code training (as we did last year) Memorial Day parade: The club will again march in the New Providence parade this year. We hope to have some of the Salt Brook School Statics kids march with us. Members of the New Providence Radio ERT (Emergency Response Team) will be providing auxiliary radio services for the parade officials during the parade. The club will not participate in the Berkeley Heights parade. Kids Day June 18 will be held at the New Providence Gazebo again. Operators will be needed. Field Day we will form a Field Day Committee in April and have planning sessions during the fourth Monday meetings in April and May. Every one agreed we should have a more organized approach this year and felt it would be beneficial to have more people involved in the planning and preparations. Summer Recreation Camps: We would like to again participate in the New Providence and the Berkeley Heights camps, if we can find club members willing to help out with radio stations and code practice. Holiday Luncheon:  We set the date tentatively for December 10th.  Barry K2JV will start to look for a site. We have heard that OConnors may be closing. 3. Meeting Planning     A. First Meetings" March 14: Batteries by Bob KB2IKC and Barry K2JV April No meeting; school is closed May 9 Ferrites by Jerry W2FMI (a rehearsal of his Dayton presentation) June 13  ???? July & August no meetings; school is closed. September 12 Mobile Installation Car Show: Members will show off their mobile radio installations and can help anyone who wants to attempt a radio installation that night. October - Software Defined Radios -- KC2RLM will contact  Bob McGwier, N4HY, from Princeton. Frank K2EZR and other members of the committee will explore other speakers/topics for June, Oct - January . All club members are encouraged to suggest topics in which they are interested. Even better would be if club members would offer to host a presentation or a forum on a topic (e.g. Antennas, Contesting, Fox Hunting) in which other knowledgeable members would contribute (similar to the February Forum on sound card digital modes.)     B. Second Meetings The committee would like to give a little more definition to the second meetings so that club members will feel encouraged to attend.  For example, Field Day Planning Meeting will be scheduled for the second meetings in April and May. (New Providence ERT (Emergency Radio Team) meetings can also be held. Also, we will encourage members to: Consider the meeting as a possible work session: bring in that radio project youve been meaning to get to and work on it at the meeting. Bring in radios, test equipment, and other interesting items to show, even if youre not an expert with it. The committee will also look into getting some short radio-related videos. 4. Other Items QSL.Net: The Club's web page page and e-mail reflector has been unavailable or slow on several occasions in the last two months. Unfortunately, it would be much more expensive to move to a more reliable web host. As such, the Committee agreed to stay with QSL for now, and in fact we will send them a $100 donation in hopes that it might help alleviate any financial strain that is affecting service. Even if we continue to experience problems, the $100 is deserved for past and current hosting of the web page and the club reflector. Public Relations: We will continue to look for and investigate publicity opportunities,  such as TV channel 36. We can always use interesting, attractive photographs to submit to local newspapers. Licensing Class: The committee agreed it would be too much of a commitment to run such a class. As an alternative, we will look for and publicize classes being offered elsewhere. K2AGI:  We will make a donation to the New Providence Rescue Squad as a memorial tribute to beloved club member John Sheetz K2AGI. Salt Brook School Statics: No further word on the date of a possible contact with the Space Station (ARISS. It is still likely to be many months away. A core group of "regulars" (KC2KMK, K2JV, K2EZR, AB2CM,  KC2IZK, KC2LSV) and others (including K2GLS and "Spaceman Bob" KB2IKC) are enjoying working with a sizeable group of interested students on Monday afternoons at 3:00 p.m.. Additional club volunteers would be welcome, even on an occasional basis. Roster: We will remind club members that any club member can get a club roster simply by requesting one from Barry K2JV (or KC2RLM in K2JV's absence). In addition, Barry agreed to start keeping a second roster of friends of NPARC that will be included as an addendum to the roster (a la John K2AGI's private roster). We debated the idea of  publishing roster information to a web page but couldn't find an easy solution to the concern about information protection (addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, spouse's name). New Providence ERT (Emergency Radio Team) - several club members belong to this ARES group. Upcoming service events include the New Providence Memorial Day parade, a 5K Foot Race, the July 3rd New Providence Fireworks and the monthly Red Cross "Chapter check-in" net.  Next Meeting: Tentatively set for Thursday  June 9, 2004 Ralph Milnes KC2RLM Secretary   <-- Return to the NPARC Home Page