Happy New Year Everyone!
And, it was a Happy Old Year as well. 2014 brought the 100th Anniversary of the ARRRL and along with it THE
outstanding operating event of the past century. Now the individual logs are uploading to
Logbook of the World and scores will all be recalculated for the Centennial QSO
Party. Remember, the log deadline is
January 15 at 2359 Z.
There were several key events that bear mentioning from
our historic 2014:
We experienced a change in the guard at the Division
level in July as long time Director, Jim Weaver, K8JE retired and Vice Director
Dale Williams assumed that role. Tom
Delaney W8WTD moved up to fill Dale's unexpired term.
Tom was then elected to the Vice Director position in the fall election
cycle.
Michigan secured the passage through the State House and
Senate of PRB-1 that includes establishment of an advisory committee to provide
accurate information concerning amateur antenna needs to local governmental
regulating bodies as required. It now awaits the Governor's signature.
2014 also saw the Ohio PRB-1 Law standing its own ground
and winning an appeal at the 6th Appellate District Court. The town of Swanton once again loses its
case.
Michigan also created a five-person Technical Specialist
HF Digital team from around the state to collectively create a common
PowerPoint® program to provide programs and instruction for club meetings,
hamfests, and other activities to encourage the use of HF sound card modes for
pleasure and EmComm purposes.
2014 also marked the return of the Greater Louisville
Hamfest as the Kentucky State Convention (Sept. 6, 2014). The convention featured a visit by Great
Lakes Division Vice Director Tom Delaney, W8WTD, and an awards luncheon after
the hamfest. Kudos to the hamfest organization for their hard work to make the
return of the ARRL state convention a reality!
In Ohio, Section Manager Frank Piper retired and Scott
Yonally N8SY became the new SM. A new
Affiliated Clubs Coordinator, Sandy Mackey, N8YS and a new Official Observer
Coordinator, John Perone, W8RXX stepped in as well. Complimenting these changes was a course
change in the Ohio ARES program with the appointment of a new Section Emergency
Coordinator, Stan Broadway N8BHL.
Michigan SM Larry Camp WB8R appointed Gordon Baldwin,
W8CT as the Section Youth Coordinator.
Kentucky has also shown continued support for the ARRL,
with a seven percent increase in League membership from April 2007 to Nov.
2014. Thanks to all the many volunteers
who donate their time and talents, for they are the reason for the continued
success of ARRL programs in the Kentucky section.
Ohio also said hello to a newly appointed Affiliated
Clubs Coordinator - John Myers, KD8MQ
Michigan hams conducted another very successful annual
Section Family Outing in the woods of northern Michigan.
Kentucky Hamfest attendance in 2014 stayed steady, with
several section hamfests seeing an uptick in attendance. In 2014, we welcomed a
brand-new hamfest -- the Letcher County Amateur Radio Club in Whitesburg held
their first hamfest.
After a multi-year experiment with one individual serving
as SEC and STM, Michigan returned to a conventional format with the appointment
of Mark Shaw, K8ED as STM.
In August, the Ohio Section had its conference along with
the always-successful Columbus Hamfest where the top newsletters in Ohio were
acknowledged in the ARRL Ohio Section Newsletter Contest. They also celebrated
the newest inductee of the Allan Severson Award Frank Piper, KI8GW. Jackie Piper, KC8ESO received the Section
Manager’s "Special Appreciation" award.
Much work has been done on building a D-Star repeater
network with grant funding in the SW corner of Michigan.
Ohio got to cheer as one of its own, Jay Slough, K4ZLE
was the winner of the April QST® Cover Plaque award for his article "A 10
Meter Moxon Antenna."
Vice Director Tom Delaney W8WTD and your Director were
able to attend a number of the Division's hamfests throughout the past
year. Our sincere thanks to all of these
hamfest teams who extended such warm hospitality to us during our visits. We hope to include visits to even more swaps
in 2015.
Adrian, MI
Bowling Green, KY
Chelsea, MI
Cleveland, OH
Columbus, OH
Dayton, OH
Elyria, OH
Findlay, OH
Grand Rapids, MI
Hazel Park, MI
Louisville, KY
Mansfield, OH
MI Crossroads, MI
Monroe, MI
OKYIN, OH
Portage, OH
Richmond, KY
Toledo, OH
Now as we move into 2015, Vice Director Delaney and I
prepare for the Annual ARRL Board meeting in mid January. Our visits to club meetings and
conversations with many of you at hamfests around the Division have provided us
with suggestions for consideration at committee meetings and the Board
itself. It is always a pleasure to hear
from you with your thoughts and ideas to improve all that we do in Amateur
Radio.
To all: Thanks for your contribution to ARRL and ham
radio during 2014.
Now let us go on and make this New Year even better and
strive to show the great works of ham radio to the world.
73,
Dale Williams WA8EFK
Director
Great Lakes Division
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