November conjures up the spirit of reflection and thanksgiving. We look back at the fair weather flying season and realize we had a great summer of flying evenings and weekends! In addition, we have to be thankful for such an exceptional flying site. Many of our guests have remarked about the size and location of our field. The SNHRCC is a solid club with a membership rooted in many aspects of our hobby.
November is also a time of renewal. Most municipalities vote for their future civic leaders now. Our nation elects its leaders during this month. November is a month of decision, opportunity, and possibly change. In keeping with this time-honored tradition, and in compliance with our constitution, we elect the slate of officers who will lead us through the next 12 months.
It is important that you are part of this decision-making process. It is the time to vote for the candidates that appeals to your leadership convictions. You also have an opportunity to participate in this process as a candidate. Nominations will be reopened during the November meeting. All of the positions are open to the membership for nominations. In particular, the vice-president position is open for consideration. Maurice Theriault, at present, is not considering running for office. Come to the meeting and be part of the process!
Looking forward to the new year, the officers discussed plans for the months of December and January. For a number of years we have held the Yankee Swap during the December meeting. It has been lots of fun and I suspect this year won't be any different. Secondly, we believe an auction in January will be as good as it was last year. A good time to weed out things that have lost their appeal or to pick up an item that is just what you were looking for. And lastly, we will present plans for a project that we believe the club will find interesting. I will give you a hint! The raffle prize will be a very useful item for this project.
For this month's hobby related entertainment we will have a foam wing cutting demonstration presented by Dave Muse. Dave has made foam wings for his pattern ships. If you haven't seen a foam wing contour cut before, you will be fascinated by the process.
Finally, I want to thank Maurice for providing the entertainment last month. What a presentation of extremes! The "StearMaster", that he and Darrell Wagner have built and flown, is at one end of the spectrum, while the Maurice created, .010 powered "Micro-Aire", is at the other.
In closing, I want to remind you that this is your club. You have an opportunity to shape next year's journey. Come to the meeting. Be part of the decision-making process. Vote for your candidates. And remember, as always, if you have an interesting hobby related project that you would like to share with the club, bring it to the meeting.
-- Bob Patukonis
SNHRCC Meeting Minutes Recap
October 14, 1997 at Griffin Memoriel School, Litchfield, NH
Officers in attendance: Bob Patukonis, Maurice Theriault, Dave Muse and John Hayes
Secretary's report was read by John Hayes, a motion was made to accept and passed.
Treasurer's report was read by Dave Muse, a motion was made to accept and passed.
Business:
Bob Patukonis commented on the Flying Eagles float fly in, saying it was very well run and an event to look forward to next year. Bob also thanked Tom Loose for running our Mini Rhinebeck Fun-Fly.
Andrej Rutkowski asked that any library tapes be returned so they can be accounted for. Eight or ten tapes are still out on loan. Darrell Wagner asked why we don't just contact the people who have borrowed the tapes and ask them directly to return them. A motion was made to charge a $5.00 late fee for any tapes unreturned over 30 days. The motion was passed and will go into effect on January 1, 1998. Andrej will contact the holders of the outstanding tapes to seek their return prior to the January date.
Nominations were opened this month for club officers. Bob Patukonis expressed his desire to run for another year, however Maurice Therriault has declined nomination for the VP position. Nominations for all offices will be open till the vote is taken at the November meeting.
Maurice asked as a general question, "why don't people wear the club clothing to club functions". This brought up discussion about the clothing. Rich Kelley suggested we buy future clothing based on a sign-up sheet, this will help prevent having a excess inventory of clothing that doesn't sell. Discussion followed with a favorable show of hands of those people interested in purchasing a new type of club shirt.
Dave Muse asked for a motion to pay for the laminator and pockets to be used for laminating club membership cards. The motion was made and passed.
Shawn McCarthy asked if there would be a project 98 this year. There was some question as to a club project this year since the participation over the past few years has been declining. Ernie Maynard suggested we have a fun-fly event next year for all types of aircraft but with encouragement toward club projects. No decision was made.
The following Solo awards were handed out to the following individuals for their accomplishments:
Andrew Stone
Brian Guidi
Lloyd Dahlen
Andrej Rutkowski
Eric Ford
John Schwartz
A motion was made to adjourn and passed.
Hobby Highlights:
Darrell and Maurice brought a pair of aircraft showing there are definitely two ends of any spectrum. First was the Stearmaster, this plane began life as a Great Planes Giant Aeromaster but during the course of building under went a metamorphosis (Maurice's sharp eye and X-Acto knifes etc...) and became a Stearman. A real fine example kit bashing and paying attention to detail. At the other end of the scale was the ultra mini Train Air powered by a .010 Cox engine (this size engine makes a nice tie tack). This shows the diversity of Darrell and Maurice, willing to build and fly anything, one weighing in at several pounds and the other at the low end of the single ounces.
-- John Hayes