Season’s Greetings!
With Christmas just behind us, and
New Year’s drawing closer, time to stop a moment and see
what’s going on around the state.
Voting for the 2011 GAARES Ham of the
Year is proceeding well and the votes are pouring in. Our
nominees are:
1)
Jimmy
Burgamy, WB4NFG
2)
Frank
Dean, K4SJR
3)
Cleve
Cannon, WB4OLL
4)
Bill
Wilson, KJ4EX
5)
Eddie
Connally, AA4RI
I’m enjoying reading the commentary
about these five great guys, as most folks aren’t stopping
at just saying, “I cast my vote for,” they’re giving some
good and often moving thoughts on the nominees.
It’s very
evident that they have all made a real difference in Amateur
Radio in Georgia. You still have until January 10th
to cast your vote. Simply send it to
[email protected] and
I’ll add it to the tally. Please also include your callsign
when you vote.
The award
will be presented at the State ARES Meeting, which will be
held at the Georgia Public Safety Training Center in Forsyth
on January 21st. The meeting starts at 9:30am.
The
meeting is coming together nicely and this year; it is an
ARRL sanctioned hamfest, so from here forward, we’ll be
calling it the “Georgia
ARES Convention.” Once
again, we’ll be placing the emphasis on the county Emergency
Coordinator because they are the most important cogs in the
“GAARES Machine.”
Our two
speakers are Nick Brown,
Statewide Interoperability Coordinator for GEMA, and
Lans Rothfusz,
Meteorologist-in-Charge of the National Weather Service
office in Peachtree City.
There will again be a number of
“Forum Tables” set up in the cafeteria during the 2-hour
lunch break, with a number of topics, organizations, and
operating modes on display. Also, we plan to have a number
of emergency communications vehicles and trailers in the
parking lot for you to have a look at.
Most folks last year found it easier
to bring a “brown bag” lunch to be sure they’d have enough
time to see everything. We’ll also have a talk-in station
available on 146.52 MHz. simplex to make sure you find your
way in easily.
The
meeting agenda is available on
www.arrl-ga.org.
I saw a
lot of good stuff happening around state this month. The
Barrow Amateur Radio
Club
ran their annual
“Christmas in Bethlehem”
Special event on December 3rd and 4th.
A few days later saw the
“Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum ARC”
activating the B-17 “City
of Savannah” as a special
event station on December 7th commemorating the
70th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
The folks in the Central District
took part in their annual “Santa Patrols” to help the local
Police Departments make the holidays safer for everyone. And
there were numerous clubs helping their communities with
Christmas parades.
A couple
of new websites hit the Internet this month.
Butts County ARES
activities can now be accessed at
www.bcgaares.org and
Grady County ARES
has a new site at
http://grady-ga-ares.blogspot.com Congratulations to
both groups on their great looking sites.
So, that’s
enough from me right now. I hope you’ll all be able to make
the trip to Forsyth on January 21st for the
Georgia ARES Convention. And do keep those emails…and “HOTY
Votes,” coming!
Happy New Year and 73,
Mike, KE4FGF
Georgia SEC
