BOB'S BARREL - August 2007
Greetings from the barrel.
July was a great month. We had excellent weather, a fun outdoors event, and great friendship. The Ceder Hills Park has just the right ambience, shelter, and available parking space. This shelter accommodated everyone and few additional lounge chairs were needed. The abundance of side dishes complimented the many varieties of meet destined for the grills. There were enough grills to handle everyone needs, so that no real delays were experienced. The evening was cool, not hot as some expected, and the location and scenery just right. We all enjoyed ourselves immensely.
Our August event, ice cream social and tail gate party, will also be held at the Cider Hills Park, located on Ceder Hills just north of the Walker Road intersection. We have reserved the shelter for the August 8th event. Parking is opposite the shelter and is first-come first- served. I hope everyone will attend. Maybe we can share summer events.
Our September meeting September 12th, will be held at the Peppermill restaurant. This is where the Washington County ARES group meets. We can order from the menu, the service and food are excellent. If we like this meeting place, we can have it for our regular meeting location on our regular meeting nights. Look it over carefully, we have few options at this time. We can discuss this at our ice cream social.
73
Robert Crocker WN7O
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July 2007
What a Field Day! The GOTA station had the most SSB contacts with 142. The best we have done so far. This is the result of a great location and enthusiastic volunteers. J.D. K7JDF did and excellent job in both selecting the site and organizing the weekend. Steve AD7OG did an excellent job providing networking of the computers and the power distribution. The evening meal of BBQ Ribs was excellent, Steve N7VIC really outdid himself with the ribs. We all had a great time. Next year should be better. Well done all.
Our saga with the Hillsboro Elks’ Lodge continues. Latest update, the OTVARC Board, with additional OTVARC Elk members, attended the Elks’ Board meeting, where we presented our concerns as to the new requirements requested by the Lodge. The Elks’ would like us to change our meeting night to the first or fourth Wednesday of the month. The available food would be different. The Elks board expressed surprise at the number of OTVARC attendees. Why the surprise, I don’t know as our initial presentation indicated that our normal attendance was between 45 and 65 members. The Elks’ board will advise as to if we can continue there and what evening is available. Either way it is up to our members if we want to use the Hillsboro Elks’ Lodge as our meeting place. In the meantime, during July and August, we will be meeting elsewhere. Our September 12th meeting will be at the Peppermill Restaurant in Aloha on the 2nd Wednesday evening, more details to follow.
Please let our board how you feel regarding this situation. We can still return to the Beaverton Elks Lodge at this time. See you at our July 11th PICNIC.
73 -- Robert WN7O
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June 2007
Sea-Pac is over and what an event it was. The reports from the vendors I hope were good. I heard from HRO that they started slowly, but by Saturday afternoon sales had picked up and they did very well. We had one new vendor of interest to a number of us who like to build our own radios. Elecraft was there and showed their new K3 advanced performance radio. It shows Sea-Pac has a lot to offer vendors. We need as many as we can get. Congratulations to the many volunteers who put so many hours in making the convention run smoothly. The banquet was well attended and the meals were all hot and good. Very nice jobs guys.
We now have a problem with the Hillsboro Elks' Lodge as our host location. We started out well at our new location and it looked like we were welcomed, but it turns out there are some issues the Elks' Board has with our meeting there.
They want us to change our meeting night to another day of the month.
The only things we can order are hamburgers.
OTVARC must pay by a single check at the end of the evening.
Wes has been trying to get better terms for us, but it appears they are not very flexible.
We will meet at the Hillsboro Elks' Lodge for our regular June meeting. We need to have a new location for the normal September 12th meeting. We will have an outdoor event for July and August. I have talked to the Pepper Mill in Aloha and they would like to host us. We can discuss the new crises at our June members and board meetings. Put your thinking caps on and give us your suggestions.
See everyone Wednesday June 13th.
73’s
Robert/WN7O.
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May 2007
We will meet again at the Hillsboro Elks’ Lodge at Orenco, May 9th. This time the seating will be slightly different, along with a microphone, to allow everyone to hear the program. The main complaint about our last meeting was the inability to hear the complete program and the noise from the group behind us. Food service ends at 7:00 pm, so we should not be bothered by Elks’ arrivals for dinner. One important point we must observe is to remember to check in at the front entrance. We will have a greeter present to assist in checking.
We will have a SEA-PAC club booth again this year. Of course, we need volunteers to staff the booth. If you have a few minutes available during your time, come by and spell a member. It is a good place to rest and visit. Our booth will help in telling our story and inviting new members. We need your help as much as possible.
Field Day will be held at “Stub” Stewart State Park this year. The Park is new and we will be among the first to use it. JD Fort is interfacing with park management to insure that we will have an excellent Field Day experience. JD plans to be at our meeting to give an update. Mark your calendar for June 23-24 and participate. Come even if it is for a short time. A number of activities planned.
Looking forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday evening.
73,
Robert Crocker/WN7O
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