[FARReps] Draft Minutes April 2007 Meeting

[William Dobson]

Please send any corrections to Bill Dobson @
n3wd1 at yahoo.com

DRAFT ----------------------------------------------

Foundation for Amateur Radio, Inc.
Meeting Minutes
Wednesday April 11, 2007

The meeting was held at the Prince George’s County
Fire and Emergency Services Building in Landover,
Maryland.  Dan Blasberg, KA8YPY President called the
meeting to order at 8:00 p.m.

Ten people attended the meeting.

William Hatfield		W3QX		Montgomery ARC	Executive Vice
President
Dan Blasberg		KA8YPY	Laurel ARC		Vice President &
FAR-Fest Chairman
Bill Dobson		N3WD		Hanover Area Hamming Assoc.	
Andy Forsyth		AF3I		Hanover Area Hamming Assoc.	
John Chitwood		K3RGB		Acting Treasurer
Jeanne Rexroad	N4ZGI		NCAC	
Diane Zimmerman	AA3OF		Laurel ARC	
Mary Morris		N4TCI		Mt. Vernon ARC	
Gary Hendrickson	W3DTN		Historical Electronics Museum
ARC	
Hugh Katz		K3HU		Voice of America and Pentagon ARC	


Treasurer’s Report:

Acting Treasurer John Chitwood, K3RGB, distributed the
Income and Expense report and Balance Sheet (excluding
scholarships). There was discussion of several major
expenses pending. They include liability insurance,
rental of the Foundation post office box, and rental
of a storage facility. There was discussion of filing
Form 990 for the Foundation.  Financial input from the
Scholarship Committee Chairperson is required.

Executive Vice President’s Report:

William Hatfield, W3QX gave recognition and thanks to
John Chitwood for acting as Treasurer and performing
the important duties of that office.  Those present
further rewarded John with their enthusiastic
applause.
Member-club representatives were asked to be aware of,
and recommend venues that may be available for FAR
fund-raising events and other activities. Executive
Vice President William Hatfield encouraged referrals
of prospective scholarship sponsors to the Chairman of
the Scholarship Committee.  


Scholarship Committee Report:

Scholarship Committee Chairperson Diane Zimmerman,
AA3OF, announced April 30, 2007 as a milestone date
and deadline for requesting an application for
2007-2008 FAR scholarships.  The Scholarship Committee
next meets on June 11. Nineteen completed applications
have been received.  Approximately 350 applications
have been sent to those qualified individuals making a
request.  This is about double the rate of previous
years.
Diane described the pre-qualification process she
performs to help ensure that individuals requesting
scholarship applications meet the requirement of being
a licensed amateur radio operator.  A growing number
of FAR Scholarship application requests are being made
by those who are not licensed amateur radio operators.
 A web search engine may have picked up a link to the
FAR Scholarship page.  If a common thread connecting
the non-qualifying application requestors can be
identified Diane will pass that information to Dan
Blasberg for action.
Diane requested technical assistance in setting up a
forwarding service or backup e-mail address so that
FAR Scholarship application requests can continue to
be fulfilled when she is not available. Diane has been
doing follow-up with the Quarter Century Wireless
Association and its President John Johnston to ensure
their funding of scholarships will be in hand when
needed.


No ARRL Report was given. 




FAR-Fest Report:

The search for a new FAR-Fest location has been
unproductive as of the self-imposed deadline set by
the Far-fest committee.  Date conflicts with the
prospective venues and other ham radio events are the
primary factor.  Weather-related considerations limit
the available dates for outdoor tailgating activities.
In the absence of an available and usable facility
there will not be a traditional FAR-Fest in 2007.
Alternative ideas for FAR-Fest were invited.  A
suggestion was made to hold the event earlier in the
year so that the Foundation budget could be better
aligned with its income stream.  The traditional date
for FAR-Fest – the weekend following Labor Day --
generated income late in the year after many
Foundation expenses had been incurred.


New Business:

Two new representatives of member clubs were
introduced and approved by a vote of those present.
Gary Hendrickson, W3DTN, representing the Historical
Electronics Museum.
Andy Forsyth, AF3I, representing the Hanover Area
Hamming Association as Alternate.
Bill Dobson, N3WD, was nominated for the role of
Secretary and approved by a vote of those present.
William Hatfield thanked Mary Morris, N4TCI, for her
service to the Foundation in the role of Secretary. 
Those present expressed their appreciation with
applause.



Announcements:

Gary Hendrickson, W3DTN, announced that MARS is
looking for new members.  Army MARS has an active
recruitment program.  
Hugh Katz, K3HU, mentioned that the Pentagon has a
similar MARS recruitment program.



The meeting adjourned at 9:05 p.m.

The next Foundation for Amateur Radio meeting is
scheduled for Wednesday June 13, 2007 beginning at 8
p.m. The meeting location will be the Prince George’s
County Fire and Emergency Services Building in
Landover, Maryland


Respectfully submitted,

/s/ William Dobson


Willam Dobson, N3WD
Secretary

Thanks to Andy Forsyth, AF3I for taking the minutes of
this meeting. 



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