[FARC] [FARReps] Atlantic Division Director/Vice Director

[Dan Blasberg]

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Fellow Amateurs in the Atlantic Division,	

	As the former President of the Foundation for Amateur Radio, I would 
like to endorse Bill Edgar N3LLR for Atlantic Division Director and Tom 
Abernethy for Atlantic Division Vice Director.

Bill Edgar has been the Atlantic Division Vice Director for the past 
five years, serving the amateur radio community on numerous committees 
at the ARRL as well as in his community. I think that Bill edgar is 
more than qualified to be the Director for the division, given his many 
hours of volunteer work to and for the division, it would be mistake to 
not capitalize on his experience.

Tom Abernethy W3TOM has been the Maryland/DC (MD/DC) Section Manager 
for over three years, the section has grown more in that time than in 
any other. Tom has been the Section Manager through some of the worst 
national and local disasters we have seen. Under Tom, the amateurs of 
the MD/DC Section helped respond to the horrible tragedy at the 
Pentagon during 9/11. Two weeks later, amateurs responded to the deadly 
aftermath of a F3 tornado in maryland that travelled from College Park 
to Laurel. Six months after that, Tom was on the front lines helping to 
coordinate as well as participating in the response to an F5 tornado in 
his backyard in LaPlata. Public service and emergency communications 
have increased as well as amateurs participating in these events has 
increased under Tom and his assistants. For these reasons and many 
more, Tom Abernethy would make a great Vice Director for the Atlantic 
Division.

73,

Dan Blasberg
KA8YPY
Past President
Foundation for Amateur Radio

Chairman
FARFest
											Walking the Walk

	The Atlantic Division should have a Director and Vice Director team 
with a proven record of service to the League and to you, the members. 
It has been my privilege to serve as Atlantic Division Vice Director 
for the past five years, building the experience needed to represent 
you effectively on the ARRL Board as the Atlantic Division Director.  I 
am familiar with the other ARRL Board members and am comfortable in 
working with them and my experience gives me unique qualifications to 
hit the ground running as your director without a learning curve.
	My teammate, Vice Director candidate, Tom Abernethy W3TOM, is the 
Maryland/DC Section Manager for over four years.
We feel that teamwork is the essence of successful leadership, which is 
why we are running as a team.   We both have solid, proven leadership 
background and we are committed to quality service to our members.

Check the endorsements on our website www.bestvote.org - our track 
record is stands high.

We would sincerely appreciate your votes for our team.

Bill Edgar N3LLR - Director Candidate

	I strongly believe that our Director must have experience in the 
ARRL's Field Organization and other volunteer programs.  I have served 
as the Western Pennsylvania Section Manager, Section Emergency 
Coordinator, District Emergency Coordinator, Emergency Coordinator, 
Official Observer, and Public Information Officer. I am a Volunteer 
Examiner, an ARRL Registered Instructor and an ARRL Emergency 
Communications Mentor/Instructor.  As a VE, I have participated in over 
thirty VE testing sessions from 2000 to current.  I have taught 
licensing classes since 1993, instructed emergency communications 
classes, and served as a mentor for 49 students in the three levels of 
the ARRL ARECC emergency communications courses.
	While serving as the Atlantic Division Vice Director, I have served on 
four ARRL Committees: Public Relations Committee, Volunteer Resources 
Committee, Member Services Committee and the Ad-Hoc Scouting Committee.
	While Section Emergency Coordinator and then Section Manager, the 
section became radio-active.  We instituted regular training sessions, 
meetings and drills.  The Simulated Emergency Test results for the 
section were in the top ten sections reported for activity and more 
than half of the time, the section was in the top five sections 
reporting activity.
	My amateur radio memberships include:  McKean County Amateur Radio 
Club, Gateway FM Repeater Association, Western Pennsylvania Repeater 
Association, Western New York Southern Ontario Repeater Association and 
the 10-10 Club.
I have leadership experience in other membership organizations, which 
rely on volunteers. I have been a ten-year board member, three-term 
Chapter Chair for my local Red Cross Chapter and I am in my eleventh 
year as the Disaster Chairman for the Red Cross Chapter.   I have 
taught Red Cross Disaster courses for over eight years.
	I am currently serving as an Executive Board member and a District 
Chairman for the Allegheny Highlands Boy Scout Council.  I have served 
as a Merit Badge Counselor for the same council for seven years.
	Because I believe it is essential for ARRL officials to stay in 
personal touch with the membership, I have traveled throughout the 
Division to club meetings, hamfests, and conventions.  We will increase 
the contact with the Atlantic Division Section Mangers, key-leaders and 
members.
Keeping the League financially sound is a key Board responsibility. I 
am a finance executive at an international company and have served on 
local and national trade group committees and boards.
	I hold the Amateur Extra license and enjoy contesting, DXing, and 
public service communications.
	The Director's job is not to push a personal agenda, but to listen to 
what you think and represent your views to the ARRL Board. I will 
represent all our Division's members, not just a few special-interest 
groups.

Tom Abernethy W3TOM - Vice Director Candidate

	It has been my pleasure to serve as the Maryland/DC Section Manager 
since July 2001. During this time the Maryland/DC Section leadership 
provided an exceptional Amateur Radio response to the attack on the 
Pentagon, two devastating tornados, plus several successful BPL and 
antenna regulation challenges.
	My wife and son are both licensed Radio Amateurs. My 30 years plus as 
an active Amateur include several facets of the hobby such as 
contesting, chasing DX, emergency communications, digital radio 
operation, CW-QRP and antenna design.
	I have served in various capacities for the League including the ARRL 
Mexico City Earthquake Blue Ribbon Committee, Emergency Coordinator, 
Section Emergency Coordinator and currently Maryland/DC Section 
Manager.
	Besides being a life member of the ARRL, AMSAT and QCWA, other 
memberships include Potomac Valley Radio Club (PVRC), Maryland 
Emergency Phone Net, Mid-Atlantic Repeater Council, several local clubs 
and provide active support for the Foundation for Amateur Radio.
I am a former law enforcement officer. As the former President of the 
Mid-Eastern Chapter of the Association of Public-Safety Communications 
Officials (APCO), I served on the Executive Council of APCO 
International, the Public-Safety Homeland Defense Taskforce and the 
Public-Safety Technician Certification Taskforce.
	As the Radio Services Manager for Prince William County, Virginia my 
responsibilities encompass the technical integrity of the County's 
critical Police/Fire and Microwave Backbone Communications Systems.
	I feel my leadership experiences have uniquely qualified me to serve 
as the next Vice Director of the Atlantic Division.
	As Vice Director I will provide an important link between our members 
and the ARRL Board of Directors.  I will enthusiastically seek your 
views and opinions to help chart the future of the ARRL and the Amateur 
Radio Service.  I ask for your vote to provide the technical and 
volunteer-oriented leadership for our national organization.

See our team's website:  www.bestvote.org