SM: Susan Swiderski, AF4FO; ASM/South GA: Marshall Thigpen, W4IS; ASM/Legal: Jim Altman, W4UCK; ASM/Webmaster: Bob Smith, K4PHE; ASM/Youth Activities: Brittney Hancock, KI4WNY;
ASM/Youth Advisor: Andrea Hartlage, KG4IUM; ASM/ Scouting: David Pearce,ABØNG; SEC: Scott Royle, KK4Z;
STM: Charles Pennington, K4GK; OOC: Mike Swiderski, K4HBI; TC: Jim Worsham, W4KXY;
PIC: Norm Schklar,WA4ZXV; SGL: Bill Cherepy, WB4WTN; ACC: Robin Cutshaw, AA4RC

Greetings, All. Sorry to be so late with the mid-monthly summary, but better late than never, right? Things have been so hectic that there was a real temptation to simply skip sending out a message, but I didn't want to miss the opportunity to remind you all about Georgia's first Hamfest of 2008, coming up this Saturday. That, of course, is the 26th annual Dalton Hamfest, to be held at the North Georgia Fairgrounds, at 501 Legion Drive. Gates open at 8AM. VE testing at the Western Sizzlin at 1PM, and grand prize drawings (a 2M mobile radio AND an HF mobile rig) will be at 2:30. Lots of indoor vendors and unlimited free tailgating. Always a great fest, and an outstanding kick-off to the GA Hamfest season. Hope to see you there. Talk-in 145.230(-)

Many of you have asked me about our favorite Director of Vice, SANDY DONAHUE, W4RU, and want to know how he's doing. Well, I'd say that Dothan, AL, seems to be a perfect niche for him. We miss seeing him as much as we did when he lived here in Atlanta, but life has been treating him well. He's currently satisfying his thespian urges by acting in a local production, and he's been working as a reporter for the local paper. Gets to cover sporting events, school activities, political happenings, that sort of thing. Volunteers as a coach for the high school quiz bowl team, too. So bottom line is, he's doing well, and he's happy. If all goes well, I hope we'll get to see him at the Kennehoochee Hamfest next month.

For the first time, my better half MIKE, K4HBI, and I made it down to the Orlando Hamfest earlier this month. All I can say is WOW! What a crowd! This was the first year they officially opened the gates on Friday to turn it into a 3-day event, and it proved to be a smart move.

It was an exciting Hamfest, graced with warm temperatures and lots of activity. May have been our first visit, but it certainly won't be our last. We even had the rare and wonderful opportunity to see the space shuttle launch while we were in town, not to mention the fact that all of our grandchildren just happen to live in that area. Made for a perfect, but tiring, vacation.

Now, it's catch-up time. If you've sent me an email and haven't yet gotten a reply, sorry about that. Should be caught up in the next couple of days.

NEW ECs: CONGRATULATIONS and many thanks to ROBERT ALDRICH, N9RLA, who has graciously accepted the position of EC for Jackson county. Even before actually donning the official hat, he was already playing a significant role in establishing a good working relationship with the local EMA, so I see great things in the future for this county's ARES group. In Hall county, JOHN BRANDON, KE4PCF, has stepped down, after serving many years as EC, and we thank him for his years of service.

Stepping up to assume the reins is RONALD MULBERRY, KI4RBE. Many thanks to Ron, and best wishes to him and to Hall county ARES for a successful and rewarding experience.

On Monday, we had the pleasure of visiting with the members of the Cherokee Capital ARS for what president FELTON FLOYD, AF4DN, called "ARRL Night". This year marks the club's tenth year as an ARRL affiliated club, and they are also one of our Special Service Clubs.

Last time we visited with them, they got to experience my first trial run of a new program I'd put together, and lucky them, they got to experience another first run for another new program this time around.

It seemed to go OK, though, and one member even suggested that I should put my "art work" into a museum. Dunno about that, but at least they laughed at the right spots. Many thanks to the club members for their warm hospitality and enjoyable evening.

Last night, we enjoyed an evening of fun and surprises at the North Fulton ARL. As always, there was a great program, thanks to FRED MOORE, N4CLA, who talked about analog repeater systems, and ROBIN CUTSHAW, AA4RC, who talked about D-Star repeaters, and demonstrated his fabulous DV Dongle. (which are still selling as fast as he can provide them to HRO) One planned surprise was that I presented the club with its brand new certificate as Georgia's newest Special Service Club. (Woo HOO!!) I also surprised club president JIM STAFFORD, W4QO, by bringing up his "past life". Many of the club members know what a great motivator he's been in leading the club, but few were aware of the many achievements he's had over the years in working with young people, both at local schools and at SciTrek museum. He was even involved in setting up a contact between students of Renfroe Middle School and the Space Shuttle Endeavor back in 1995. So, in honor of his many years of educating students about amateur radio, it was a pleasure to present him a token of appreciation, an ARRL coffee mug that says, "Thank you for inspiring the next generation". But the real surprise of the evening was on ME.

The club presented me with a wonderful certificate of appreciation and gift card to Outback. TOTALLY unexpected. The club was in somewhat dire straits a year and a half ago, and they wanted to credit me with turning things around for them through a presentation I gave them on how to improve the club. I thoroughly appreciate their wonderful sentiments, but this is what I think: all I did was draw them a sketch of a vehicle. They built it, they've kept it running on high octane fuel, and they've taken it to new and exciting destinations. The phenomenal rebirth and growth of this club is all on them. Can't say enough good things about the excitement and energy this club has put back into the hobby for their ever-growing membership. Sincere congratulations to them for their amazing success and for their much-deserved status as a Special Service Club.

SKs: Sadly, we've lost too many of our own this past month. GERRY CHILDRESS, W4KNA; RICHARD EDWARDS, KI4MYI; BENJAMIN KLINE, WB4WQL; JOHN LINDSEY, W4PZP; and RABUN SMITH, K4PGP.
Sincere condolences to their families and friends.

Well, folks, that's about it for now. If you have any news to share, please send it this-a-way for the March newsletter. Until then, this is AF4FO, signing clear. Take care of yourselves. And each other. 73, Susan

QTC January: K8GA-212; K4GK-135; WA4UJC-50; WB4BIK-38; K4BG-26; K4BAI-21; K4BEH-4

No trees were killed in the sending of this message. However, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.

ARRL Georgia Section
Section Manager: Susan K. Swiderski, AF4FO af4fo@arrl.org