[QCWA] membership

[Tom H Childers]

I agree with Bob about the unique aspect of QCWA.

I'll tell you a story that Bob may or may not know.

When I got my Novice license in 1976 I heard about the QCWA and
understood at the time that I could not be a member until I had been
licensed for 25 years, so I kept renewing my licenses each ten years
as all members of QCWA have done.

During my 24th year I went to a coffee shop where I went on Saturday
mornings to meet with all of the new and old hams that congregated
there for breakfast.  During that morning I said to one of the older
fellows there that next year I would be able to join QCWA.  One of
the younger fellows there said , "you don't have to wait, you can
join as", (I think he said), "an associate member."

I was devastated!  Not because I could have joined earlier, but
because I believed what I heard had made something I had waited all
those years for, meaningless.  I made up my mind I would never join
QCWA, because the rule change had made membership worthless to me.

Several years later I went to a Hamfest at Belton, Texas.  While
there I saw a QCWA booth and walked over and asked the fellow there
what he thought of the rule change that allowed people with less than
25 years to join.  "What do you mean?", he said, "We don't have a
rule like that!".  I joined and bought a lifetime membership on the
spot.

That was several years after the breakfast and I've never regretted
it.

Good things are worth waiting for, but the "Get what you want and get
it now!" generation will never understand what it means to wait for a
goal in life.

Keep up the good job Bob.  You and the other staff are doing well.

73,
Tom
Amateur Radio Operator N5GE
ARRL Lifetime Member
QCWA Lifetime Member


On Thu, 10 Jan 2013 22:34:19 -0600, "Bob Roske" <broske at hutchtel.net>
wrote:

>Hi Don, Et Al..
>
>This is another one of those ideas that surface every so often that sound 
>like it's new, but it isn't.
>
>The QCWA Board looked into this about 6 or 7 years ago but there wasn't 
>allot of interest in either organization at that time.
>
>Many radio clubs are social, have scholarships and/or provide Elmering to 
>new hams.  The QCWA purists, myself included, like being unique by requiring 
>an applicant to have held a Ham ticket 25 years ago or more as a 
>requirement.
>
>With out this, QCWA is just another Radio Club.  I don't want to or need to 
>belong to just another Radio Club.
>
>73,
>Bob N0UF
>QCWA Webmaster 2002 -
>QCWA Director 2004
>QCWA Vice President 2004 - '06
>QCWA President 2008 - '12
>
>----- Original Message ----- 
>From: "Don Tucker" <w7wll at arrl.net>
>To: <qcwa at mailman.qth.net>
>Sent: Thursday, January 10, 2013 7:56 PM
>Subject: Re: [QCWA] membership
>
>
>> Since I raised the QCWA and OOTC merger question, I've received a large
>> number of emails. Thought it reasonable to comment on the comments I
>> received.
>>
>> Those that appeared as open responses on the QCWA post site were mostly
>> negative (some VERY). I am guessing, but don't know, that this topic might
>> have come up before. However, just basically 'no way' responses leave me a
>> little cold since I don't know why that answer was given.
>>
>> The responses I got direct (offline so to speak) were much more 
>> pleasureable
>> to read, filled with some statistics, thoughts, but all seemed glad to see
>> the subject broached, if nothing else than to, perhaps, in the dialogue,
>> surface some other things that might be considered a help to making the 
>> QCWA
>> an even better organization.  Not all agreed it was a good idea, but the
>> reasons were well articulated. A few asked to treat the response as a
>> personal message, which I respect (and suspect knowing why after reading
>> some of the more vitrolic email I received). Thanks to you for that.
>>
>> I've always been fascinated with the 'my way or the highway' character 
>> set,
>> just never understood it.
>>
>> But, thanks again to QCWA for allowing me the opportunity to at least 
>> raise
>> a question, although I'm still not sure what the 'official' response (or
>> position) is.
>>
>> I recollect the homily "It is well to remember that the entire universe,
>> with one trifling exception, is composed of others." We need constantly to
>> remind ourselves of that!
>>
>> From a rather new (2006) QCWA member, an older (1954) ham.
>>
>> Thanks for the bandwith, and I respect any ham who has made it to 25 years
>> of having a license.
>>
>> Don W7WLL
>>
>>
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>
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