December 16 , 2004
Ryan's Steak House, Union City, TN
Every year on the last meeting month of December, the members of Reelfoot Amateur Radio Club and their spouses or "significant others" gather to celebrate the holiday season and enjoy each other's company. This year it was decided to meet at Ryan's Steak House in Union City, TN. 
A good crowd of us gathered this night for the festivities - Glenn, N4MJ, RARC President; Terry, KC4YLK, RARC Treasurer; Alan, KA4BNI; Lee, N4ABU and his XYL, Susie, KD4ASA; Jamie, WB4YDL; Ron, W9RVR and his XYL, Gladys; Ray, N4SLY and his XYL, Dolly, KN4SLY; Terri, KI4HIN; Bob, K9IL and his XYL, Rose.
Rose and Bob, K9IL provided door prizes - prizes they home-brewed ! - appropriate for the season. 
Pictured are the wonderful and festive prizes that the lucky ones claimed to take home and display. Glenn, N4MJ is pictured snagging a sledding bear with presents ! 
Jamie, WB4YDL managed to score the Santa Claus with his reindeer, complete with Rudolph's flashing nose ... and a mobile antenna, of course ! Others claimed their prizes and were duly impressed with the artistry of the duo. Thanks go to Bob and Rose for adding to the festivities !
As this was a regularly scheduled meeting, we took time out from our meals to attend to the business at hand. The main item on the agenda regarding the dues collections, had to be tabled until the February meeting due to the lack of a quorum. That's right - 14 members were needed for a quorum. The item under consideration would entail a change to the by-laws, so this was a necessary requirement. Being considered is whether to prorate dues on a monthly basis if one joins on a month other than February, or whether to collect dues on a member fiscal basis, which would require more record keeping. This will be decided at the February meeting.
Discussion then shifted to the status of the local Union City repeater (146.70 MHz). The repeater has been sounding great recently after the good care it received by Britt, KB4IBW and Alan, KA4BNI There is still some intermodulation artifact from the nearby paging transmitter and an effort will be made to tune out this interference. The final resort solution will be to add a PL tone to the repeater which was discussed as a favorable possibility.
The RARC web site has received over 740 hits at this date averaging 7 visits per day. Jamie, WB4YDL reports that construction of the weblog ("blog") is progressing and shaping up nicely. A request for articles from the membership - of whatever license class or expertise - was made for the blog.
The recent emergency communications meeting was mentioned and declared a success. Assistant Emergency Coordinators (AEC) Glenn, N4MJ and Ron, W9RVR will form with EC Jamie, WB4YDL to propose further ARES meetings and recommend emergency communications amateur radio equipment to the local hospital, Baptist Memorial Hospital - Union City. The entire Baptist Memorial Hospital network is committed to providing amateur radio capability for emergency communications preparedness, and they should be commended. Future ARES meetings will be announced on these web pages.
The February meeting will be about elections - it's been a long time, but election time has arrived. E-mails will be flying regarding election of the leadership of the Reelfoot Amateur Radio Club. This will be an exciting time for our club.
After adjournment of the business meeting, Bob, K9IL related a story - true, I am told - of a time when he lived in Illinois. During a particularly cold day a few years ago, he had a cranky Ham II rotator on his 50 foot tower that needed servicing. At this time, Bob lived in a suburban Chicago home with an above-ground pool and, of course, his amateur antenna tower. As Bob intrepidly climbed and eventually unbolted his rotator, he attached his rotator securely, he thought, to the support rope. His devoted XYL, Rose was "ground crew" during this time. 
As the rotator was being lowered, it slipped out of its attachment, and fell a distance to the roof of the house below, and then, after a short bounce, landed in the ice-covered pool below. Bob, seeing what had happened, implored his beloved XYL to retrieve the rotator promptly from the pool lest the bearings inside bind forever. Without hesitation, Rose, the ultimate XYL, proceeded into the pool and retrieved the rotator from the bottom of the pool. The rotator was thus saved and salvaged.
After this story was told, there was a roar of applause and approval with several giving an obligatory standing "O".
At this time, several folks mentioned looking forward to the next year and the RARC activities.
The Field Day committee will be organized at the next meeting. We did well last year and we all hope to improve on our scores this year. Here's to a happy and successful new year for the RARC !!
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