[FARReps] FAR December 14, 2005 Meeting Minutes

[Al Brown]

Foundation for Amateur Radio (FAR)
Meeting Minutes
December 14, 2005

The meeting was held at the Fire and Emergency Services building in
Landover, Maryland.  President Mary Morris (N4TCI) called the
meeting to order at 8:00m pm.

Since the secretary was absent, Al Brown (KZ3AB) agreed to record
and publish the meeting minutes.

The people attending the meeting introduced themselves. They were:

Chip Weems         W4PBG   Historical Electronics Museum ARC
Don Kirby          KR3A    Calvert ARA
William Hatfield   W3QX    Montgomery ARC
Mary Morris        N4TCI   Mt. Vernon ARC
Al Brown           KZ3AB   Maryland Emergency Phone Net and
                            Antietam Radio Association
John Chitwood      K3RGB
Dan Blasberg       KA8YPY  Laurel ARC
Hugh Katz          K3HU    Voice of America ARC
W Page Pyne        WA3EOP  Cheese Hollow ARC and
                            Antietam Radio Association

President Mary Morris (N4TCI) distributed the November 9, 2005
meeting minutes. They were approved without any corrections.

-- Treasurer's Report:  John Chitwood (K3RGB) submitted the
    treasurer's report.

    * After the latest tally of expenses for FARFest 2005, the
      Foundation suffered a net loss of approximately $500.

    * Unfulfilled Auto-Call magazine subscriptions will be returned
      by the end of the calendar year.

    * The State of Maryland is unable to process our application
      for a sales tax exemption on future items to be purchased for
      FARFest because of various bureaucratic reasons. Resolution of
      this misunderstanding is in the works.

-- Executive Vice President's Report:  William Hatfield (W3QX)
    reported that the Foundation is more financially stable now than
    it has been in several years.

    In addition, Edward H Herbrechtsmeier (K3QX) is building a
    replacement web home page for the Foundation and Jason Foster
    (N3PRZ) will be working on the FARFest web page.

-- ARRL Report:  Al Brown (KZ3AB), Assistant MDC Section Manager
    (ASM) reported that MDC Section Manager (SM) Tom Abernethy
    (W3TOM) has been elected to the position of Atlantic Division
    Vice Director. A new MDC Section Manager is to be named.

-- FARFest:  FAR VP for FARFest, Dan Blasberg (KA8YPY) announced
    that he is finalizing the design of the FARFest 2006 tickets.
    FARFest 2006 will be held Saturday and Sunday, September 9 and
    10 at the Montgomery County (MD) Agricultural Center in
    Gaithersburg, Maryland.

-- Survivor's Assistance:  Dan Blasberg (KA8YPY) reported that
    Robert T Finger (W9GE) is handling the survivor's assistance
    program for the Foundation in Maryland. He is working to sell
    equipment from two estates and one amateur radio operator who
    is unable to use his equipment and wants to donate the proceeds
    to FAR scholarships.

Old Business

-- By-Laws:  There has been no progress on modifying the by-laws.

-- Elections:  Candidates for office:

      President - Mary Morris (N4TCI)
      Executive Vice President - William Hatfield (W3QX)
      Vice President - Dan Blasberg (KA8YPY)
      Vice President - Hugh Turnbull (W3ABC)
      Vice President - Diane Zimmerman (AA3OF)
      Secretary - No candidate
      Treasurer - No candidate

      (Note: John Chitwood (K3RGB) reluctantly accepted the position
       as temporary Treasurer and agreed to "do the work until a
       replacement was found and elected.")

    The acting secretary, Al Brown (KZ3AB) cast one vote for the
    nominees and the slate of candidates was elected by an
    acclamation of the majority.

New Business:

-- There was no new business.

Announcements:

-- The Historical Electronics Museum Amateur Radio Club
    (HEMARC) will be conducting a Technician Class amateur radio
    course at the Historical Electronics Museum in Linthicum,
    Maryland for 10-12 weeks beginning on Tuesday, January 10,
    2006 at 6:30 pm. There is no fee. For information, contact:
    Les (WR3X) at 410-787-0341 or via email at <wr3x at juno.com>.

-- The NIMS IS-700 for Amateur Radio course is scheduled for
    Saturday, December 17 from 9 am to 1 pm. For info or to
    register, contact: <KG4GIY at arrl.net>.

--Hamfests---

   * Maryland Mobileers Annual Hamfest. Sunday January 29th
     (Super Sunday) from 8 AM till Noon at the Odenton Volunteer
     Fire Department, 1425 Annapolis Road (Route 175) nine miles
     east of I-95. $5 Admission.

   * Wednesday February 1 is the BARC Free Minifest. This is held
     in the Exhibition Hall of the Maryland State Fairgrounds in
     Timonium MD. No charge to enter and buy or to sell but a hat
     is passed around amongst the sellers for a donation to
     the sponsor. Starts roughly 5 PM. Most activity in the
     6:00 PM-7:30 PM time frame and the lonely vendors may be there
     until 8:00 or 9:00 PM.

  *  Feb 19 - Frostfest in Richmond, VA

  *  Feb 26 - Winterfest in Annandale, VA

  *  March 25-26 - The Greater Baltimore Hamboree at the Timonium
     Fairgrounds in Maryland


The meeting was adjourned at 8:55 pm.

The next Foundation for Amateur Radio meeting is scheduled for
Wednesday, January 11, 2006 at the Lee Center in Alexandria,
Virginia.

Everyone is invited to attend.

Respectfully submitted,


s/E. Allen Brown


E. Allen Brown, KZ3AB
Acting Secretary