The WMA Train and Test Group, made up of members of several clubs throughout the ARRL Western MA section including CMARA, is holding a General licensing class starting on February 18. There’s no cost beyond providing your own book, which is the ARRL’s General Licensing Manual. Classes will be held on Zoom. There will be a VE session at the conclusion of the course.
More details here:
https://wma.arrl.org/blog/2025/01/25/upgrade-your-ham-radio-license
After seeing Gil’s fantastic presentation on Ham Radio’s IMPORTANT role at the Boston Marathon here’s the link all of you who would like to participate, below is the link which guides you through the process for signing up for the Boston Marathon.
It’s the start of 2025 and CMARA is back in session with a new president and a great group of members!
Jim N1EKO started the meeting at 7pm with the requisite introductions and folderol. BTW, we had 22 members in the building and 10 on Zoom. Not bad for a January meeting.
Even though my note taking ability is a still a bit strained we managed to get reasonable notes taken and properly transcribed for the December. The minutes as written in the official CMARA minutes…(that’s kind of redundant) were approved by all present.
Total balance at last report (December 2024): $12,047.23
Patrick Perkins
KO1NE
CMARA, Treasurer
(m): 508.667.6335
Lots of members and folks paying their dues. Which reminds me…
DUES ARE DUE!
73, Dick / W1REJ
The machine on the big hill is still working like a champ.
There is a new payment option on the website. I’m not sure what it is due to sloppy note taking but you will see it there somewhere.
The SURVEY about changing the meeting start time. 52% vote to keep it the same. 1% didn’t care. 47% voted for change. So for the time being we will continue to meet at 7pm.
I spilled the beans earlier in the minutes but we have a new website look. Check it out at ‘www.cmara.org’. Many thanks to Tom N1TJC for all the hard work.
Thursday, February 20, 2025 at St. Francis Episcopal Church, 70 Highland St., Holden, MA. (or Zoom if you prefer) Doors will be open at 6pm and Zoom link up at 6pm (maybe)
Gil WK1H presented the program on ‘Volunteering for the Boston Marathon’. It takes almost 300 ham radio volunteers to make the event go smoothly and YOU are needed.
7pm start time with Jim, Dan, Tom C, Connor, Nick, Greg, George Tom G and Selina
We are still working on a new vendor. Film at 11.
Tom C N1TJC has all the credentials and new look is active.
The current laptop doesn’t have Power Point. We approved $ to but Office 365.
The members voted to keep the meeting time the same.
Wrapped up and paid for!
Another group would like permission to use our repeater as an emergency back up to their emergency system. All approved and Greg will make the proper contact.
We will take up the by-law changes that got abandoned when covid closed everything down. The last known revision will be sent to the board by Greg. This is like déjà vu all over again…and again.
Dan (K1)Rau
You’ve heard of late news, well this the late minutes from October. This is the truncated version of the October 2024 minutes. Due to circumstances beyond my control (like a stroke on 10/28/24) my typing is VERY slow.
Accepted.
Total balance at last report (September 2024): $12,117.18
102 paid for 2024.
SOS
Nominations for board and officers. Those who will continue are: Dan, Pat and Gill for officers and Greg, Selina, Connor, George and Steve for board. Tom may or may not run again due to personal issues. We only have 5 board members and need one more to stay in our charter.
The suggestion of a club activity arose and we will look into it. Perhaps a J-pole build project.
November 21, 2024. 6:30 social 1/2 hour and the meeting will start promptly at 7pm. Location is St. Francis Episcopal Church, 70 Highland St., Holden, MA. (or Zoom if you prefer)
I know the program was presented by Phil Luscre K8ZT but have no recollection of what it was. It was interesting… that I remember.
With club elections behind us and a new year about to begin I thought I’d send a final email as club president.
First, I’d like to take a moment to thank the 2024 officers and board members for their commitment to the club and for their time and energy which contributed greatly to the year we’ve had. I want to extend a special thanks to Steve Celuzza and Lyn Glagowski. Steve joined the board in January and his insights and ideas have helped move the club forward over the past year. Lyn has put many years in developing and maintaining the club’s website which is crucial to making our presence known and growing the club.
I’d also like to say congratulations to the 2025 slate of officers and board members!
I’m looking forward to what can be done to continue the momentum in 2025.
During 2024 we had a great Field Day. Thanks to all those who did the heavy lifting that weekend and to Gil, WK1H for chairing the event. Several club members stepped up allowing us to formalize some Elmering resources. We’ve added a greatly enhanced calendar with the support of Steve KC1SVD, Selina KC1SDL, and Gil WK1H. Thanks to Scott KB1EZF and Steve KC1SVD we brought COFFEE back to the meetings! I also want to recognize our membership chair Dick, W1REJ for making sure we are all on the roles and current. The repeater trustees/committee Greg WA1JXR, Marty W1BIM, Eric N1VX, and Mike W1BNC for keeping the old gal running. A big thank you goes to George KA3RLZ for arranging for the great slate of presenters that we’ve seen this year. And a special thank you to Gerry W1GD and John W1CVO for securing a new Field Day location for us in 2025.
The biggest thanks though go to the membership! The greatest take away from my year as club president is the knowledge that our club’s biggest asset is its membership! We saw this in the survey results, and I watched it playout throughout the year. THANK YOU!
Finally, I’d like to leave you with a challenge for the coming year. If you look at the individuals mentioned above, the 2024 officers and board, the 2025 officers and board, the many people who contributed to growing the club this year and past years, you’ll see a lot of repeat names and call signs. To continue to grow the club we need more people involved and fresh new ideas and energy. Make 2025 the year that you ratchet up your involvement! You all have a great deal to contribute and you are the key to making CMARA even better in 2025!
I hope you all enjoy the holidays and start the new year refreshed and ready to make it an amazing year for CMARA!
Again, Thanks! And 73
Tom NE1NH, CMARA President, for a few more days 😉
Feedback from the membership told us that although Aldrich Observatory field is excellent for our Field Day, there’s a desire for a location which is more centralized to our membership population and is easier to get to. Additionally, there’s a desire to set up in a public location and invite the general public, elected officials and the like to come visit our event and learn about our club and amateur radio in general.
As such, we’ve reserved Trout Brook Recreation Area for our event. The area is at 320 Manning Street in Holden. The recreation area has many open fields and lots of trees perfect for hanging wire antennae. Reserved by permit that weekend for our use is a gathering area around the pond which includes a picnic pavilion with tables and a lodge. The lodge include 2 full service bathrooms, a fireplace, refrigerator, electric griddle, steamer, microwave, 6 cafeteria tables and one serving table.
In the upcoming months, various board members and other interested in helping coordinate Field Day will visit the area and come up with a site plan for the event. At present, those that are familiar with Trout Brook tell us that it should work out extremely well for our event.
More to come on this and other Field Day information in the upcoming months.
The January 2025 meeting presentation will be our own Vice President, Gil Hayes WK1H. Gil will be going through the Boston Marathon’s amateur radio volunteer effort, what an amateur radio volunteer does and what it’s all about.
Hope to see you there on January 16!
The election results for our 2025 officer and board elections are:
Congrats to all the above, and thank you to all that ran for office!