Well I thought the Area-12 meeting held on August 24^th went very well. Special thanks to
Jeff (KU4KM) for attending. First time that I have come face to face with the Western Branch.  Jeff and I have traded a lot of phone calls as well as e-mail messages if was nice to meet him.

Thanks to Milton for hosting the meeting in Gaston County. Milton, good job on your selection of the informative film on ARES.

I would also like to thank Gene (KG4IMC) for his display of what I will call a quick set up of his antenna (J-Pole and Fishing Rod). Gene has put together many of these for the Gaston County group. Several of those that saw Gene's setup were impressed. It will make a good antenna for emergencies or for anyone that need on a moments notice.

I learned a lot from the input from all 6 counties on what they are doing in their own county. I see that a lot of work is taking place in each county. I also see that plans are being developed for more activities and problem solving in each County. By hat is off to each of you.

Cliff will host the next meeting on November the 16^TH in Lincoln County. Cliff will keep us informed on the start time and the place. If you have an assistant emergency co-ordinator that can not make the dates set for our meeting it would be nice if you invited another member from your ARES organization to take their place at our meetings. This will help us keep our members informed as to what we are doing to help our ARES organization. It should also keep them dated to what is going on in each of the counties in Area-12. Both of these items should be beneficial to all of us.

As a side note John (W4CC) just sent out a request that each of us needs to stay aware of any possible water shortage in our counties. Please read John's note. I would think that you may want to check with your Emergency Manager and see if they have a contingency plan in place for the towns that could be affected when (if) listed as critical.

Thanks to all of those that attended the meeting. I will look forward to seeing you in November.