Well, April seems to have managed to slip away without too much to report on here, (or maybe I
just missed it Hi), and it's probably just as well since the old PC at the house picked this particular
point in time to have a fit. Excuse my straying from the usual format here, but I'm trying to get
this out without being too late. If all goes according to plans, I hope to report a little bit about
Dayton in the next Newsletter. As always, if you would like to add anything to the Squelch Tail, I
would welcome your input.
The May meeting is scheduled to be held in our more traditional meeting location, the Boone
Electric Co-op Community Room, located on Range Line Street, at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, the
13th of this month. There will be a VE session after the meeting, assuming we have three VE's
present and anyone looking to take any license exams.
The April Club Breakfast was held at Country Kitchen Restaurant on Saturday, the 26th. In attendance were KB0TCR, KB0TKY with Sarah, N0KDU, WM0H, N0REF, and N0YXS. I was unable to attend as I was camping out with Andrew and a Bunch of Scouts. Fortunately, I didn't miss the food too badly since I got to cook a big breakfast on the camp fire. Should have brought the rig with me, but last year we got rained out in fine fashion. We got rained out again this year, but at least the camp didn't need to get the tractor to pull out the 4X4 pick up to get us out like they did last year.
The May Breakfast will be held in the same place on Saturday, the 31st. Mark it on your calendar,
and come hungry ! Maybe we can get up a Fox-hunt.
The time for the Air Show is sneaking up on us. I went down to the April meeting Of the Mid
Mo. ARC, and there was some interest in volunteering among their members. Ken, KB0HCA
offered to act as a liaison to get together with interested Ops down there. I think he's heard from
four, so far. We'll probably have about the same number from Columbia. We are planning on
having a tent provided for us located near Derek's tent, another ham who also will have Vintage
Radio gear and telegraph keys on display. We will probably have packet set up in both tents, as
well as some HT's for kids to play with an simplex. Probably will have HF, as well. We will be
meeting with Derek and then attending the final meeting of the Air show Committee on
Wednesday, the 14th. If you are interested in helping out for a couple of hours on either Saturday
or Sunday ( the 24th and 25th ) let me know. It should be fun!
A quote from the Bylaws of the CMRA Constitution:
" Membership is open to licensed amateurs and those with an active interest in amateur radio. Members have all Association privileges including the right to hold office and to vote for Association officers. Application for membership must be supported by two members and be presented to the membership at a regular meeting. Voting on the application shall be in the absence of the applicant at the subsequent regular meeting and shall require a simple majority."
It seems to me that it might be time to amend the bylaws. In this day and age, I think we should be doing whatever we can to keep the doors to amateur radio, as well as our club as wide open as we can. I know of several instances where the requirements for membership have been enough to keep out prospective members. One fellow passes through the area on a very regular basis and would like to support the repeater, but doesn't feel he knows any members well enough to ask them to be a "sponsor" ( I think that is the term on the application.) Another fellow probably has the idea that if the club is too far into bureaucracy, how much fun could it be? Another guy was put off by the elitism, of it all. It also seems to me that any advantage of the current process has probably outlived it's usefulness. According to the Preamble of the CMRA Constitution, one of the purposes of the Association is to promote fraternalism and another is to advance the general interest and welfare of Amateur Radio and the Community. I don't think this Bylaw helps, any longer.
I would like to submit a written proposal for discussion at the next meeting, and perhaps we can
get it worded to the approval of the Membership for a vote at the June meeting. If you have an
opinion on this matter, come to the May and June meetings and let your feelings be known.
Well, that's it for this time. CUL es 73, de WY0B ...