Meeting Minutes CAREN Club General Meeting October 6th, 2005

CAREN Club General Meeting Minutes

October 6, 2005

Meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Dale Temple, W5RXU. 

Introductions were made of the members in attendance with name, call sign, and location.    

Fred Shay, N2JAS, announced the up-coming Skywarn Appreciation Day, December 2nd and 3rd to recognize ham operators that help out during severe weather. Fred recruited volunteers and equipment.  

Jerry Dixon, N5WVI, outlined a few public service events where volunteers were needed. Raid the Rock is having a meeting Friday, October 14 at 5:00 p.m. The event will start at 5:00 a.m. Saturday, October 15, at Burns Park and end at Gillam Park. The second event is the Mid-south Marathon November 5. Jerry also reminded those in attendance of the Christmas Dinner 6:00 p.m., December 1st at the Hospitality House at Burns Park. 

Dale announced the need for volunteers for the Skywarn Appreciation Day stating that last year, Fred Shay worked alone for 24 hours at the National Weather Service located near the North Little Rock airport. Operators and equipment are needed. Dale also extended thanks and compliments from Chrissy Ferguson for the service provided by CAREN volunteers for the AT 100. The recent Hamfest estimates are being compiled. There were 301 attendees with an estimate of $800 cleared from admissions. Also, the Boat Anchor cleared about $400. The price of gasoline prohibited some of the vendors from attending; the cost of attendance could not generate a profit due to travel expenses. During the VE sessions, 10 of 16 tested passed their tests; one passed the General exam, two passed the Extra exam. 

A proposal was made by Tamara Tidwell, KD5MOV, to investigate a depository box and the Central Arkansas Library System. A future date will be set to invite the library representative to speak at a CAREN meeting. 

Steve Hicks, KC5JUH, presented a gadget show & tell. He recommended a Vector portable power supply with a 12 volt, 19 amp sealed lead-acid battery for $44.96 at Sam’s Wholesale Club. It comes with a light and an air compressor; it’s good for powering mobile radio operation; and includes a wall wart for charging at home. It also comes with a car lighter attachment for charging while driving. 

The slate of officers for 2006 was presented: 

President	Mark Barnhard, KD5AIV
Vice President	Dale Temple, W5RXU
Secretary	Diane Meador, KD5QNN
Treasurer	Tamara Tidwell, KD5MOV

Voting will take place in November. 

Steve Hicks talked about his trip to Laurel, Mississippi, with the Arkansas Baptist Ministries Disaster Relief Unit. His role was as a disaster planner. He left August 31, 2005, and returned September 7, 2005. His mission was to work with other volunteers to provide a 4’ x 4’ ham shack for communications and a make-shift kitchen to feed those who had no resources due to hurricane Katrina. Also, they were to provide chain saw crews to those who could not afford to hire help to clear property. The convoy included two tractor-trailer rigs and several personal vehicles. They received a police escort into town. When they arrived at the county fairgrounds staging area, they found the communities of Laurel and Hattiesburg had been hit with 130 mph sustained winds. Communication systems and electricity were gone. There was water, but it needed to be treated. The group used a 100,000 watt generator to power a portable water purification system. The main shelter was a horse barn on the fairgrounds. The volunteers used a local church to sleep. Steve stated he was happy to help and would like to have the opportunity to serve again when needed. 

Meeting was adjourned at 8:00 p.m. 

Respectfully submitted, 

Tamara Tidwell
Secretary