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Jerry Powell from Yreka, California, travels
north more than 250 miles into Oregon to
attend the Willamette Modelers indoor
events. Jerry is winding the motor of his
Bostonian Patriot at the Willamette
Modelers’ April meet held at the South
Albany High School gymnasium. Jerry
placed second at the contest.
Bill McConnachie of Redwood City,
California, launches his Canadian
Wakefield in the eight-ounce Wakefield
contest held May 1-2 at Waegel Field in
Sacramento, California. Bill’s efforts
earned him first place in the event.
THIS MONTH’S PHOTOS and captions
were provided by Charles V. O’Donnell of
Eugene, Oregon.
If you’ve ever served on a nominating
committee, you know how hard it is to find
individuals with the time, skills, and ability,
and who are willing to serve as club officers.
We all know how important these positions
are and how critical it is to our club to find
accomplished and competent leaders, but for
most of us time is a precious commodity.
After all, we got into this hobby to get away
from the stresses of our everyday lives, and
more important to have fun!
Unfortunately, what I’m going to talk
about probably isn’t going to make the job of
obtaining willing candidates any easier;
however, it’s much too important to be left
unsaid.
If you’ve been in this hobby and a
member of a model airplane club for any
length of time, you’ve probably been asked to
serve in one or more club officer positions.
Throughout the years, I’ve personally served
in nearly every position there is from
newsletter editor to club president, and I’ve
served on the AMA Executive Council now
for more than 11 years. I’ve learned firsthand
that all of these positions are voluntary,
uncompensated, demanding, and
unfortunately at times thankless jobs.
I know many of you either currently serve
as a club officer or have served in the past,
often for numerous clubs. For this let me
extend a very deep and sincere thank you, not
just on my behalf, but on behalf of all the
members of AMA District X and perhaps
aeromodeling enthusiasts everywhere.
Without your dedication, hard work, and
willingness to serve, this hobby would not be
what it is today.
Serving as a club officer brings with it a
set of responsibilities. Whether you’re
serving as president of the club or a member
of the board, each position has its individual
responsibilities as well as obligations to
individual club members and the club as a
whole. It bears the duty to run the day-to-day
business of the club, to protect the club
assets, to plan for the future, and to serve in
an impartial and fair manner.
Depending on the club’s structure and
location, it brings with it a greater
responsibility to the surrounding community,
the landowner, the local neighborhood, and
the general public. There is also an obligation
to support and nurture the hobby, to monitor
the activities at the flying site, and to ensure
the safety of the members, guests, and
spectators. AMA chartered clubs are required
to enforce the AMA Safety Code and are
asked to support AMA’s goals, objectives,
and initiatives.
In this day and age, fulfilling these
responsibilities has become more difficult. As
the hobby has grown, so have the challenges.
Our society has changed and our
communities have expanded so the issues
have become much more complex.
The issues facing club leadership extend
beyond getting the newsletter out and
deciding who is going to run the snack bar at
the next fun-fly. They now entail legal issues
involving safety, insurance, liability, finance,
environment, conflict of interest, and myriad
other business and social interests. The tools
available to the club are largely limited to
those brought to it by its members and the
resources are inevitably shorthanded.
It could be argued that as a national
organization, AMA has fallen short in
supplying the local clubs with the necessary
tools and resources to deal with these issues.
I, for one, pledge to continue working toward
developing additional resources to assist our
chartered clubs in meeting these challenges.
But in a greater sense, local clubs need to
look within themselves for the solutions to
these complex issues. Those who accept
leadership responsibilities need to consider
innovative and far-reaching approaches to
dealing with each new challenge.
I know we sometimes joke that the names
on the ballot are of those who were
inadvertantly absent from the room during
the nominating process, but I know that those
who serve take these responsibilities
seriously and put their personal interests aside
to support the greater interest of the club and
the membership.
If you are requested to serve as a club
officer, I ask that you consider these
responsibilities, evaluate your skills and
interests, and serve to the best of your ability.
If you are unable to serve, please support
those who do. You don’t have to hold office
to support the club, just give of yourself
whenever and however you can. Make giving
a little back to your club, the hobby, and your
community a way of life.
For those who currently hold office or
who have served in the past, a salute and
thank you. For those who will serve in the
future, I look forward to working with you,
pledge my support, and wish you the best of
success.
Reminder: AMA
District X is in the
process of
redesigning and
restructuring the
district Web page
under the new
domain name,
www.AMA10.org.
If there are any other features you would like
added to the site, please let me know.
A key component of the revamped site is
the District X Event Calendar which contains
information for AMA sanctioned contests and
nonsanctioned local events. Betty Bliss of
Whittier, California, has volunteered to serve
as the Event Calendar Coordinator and will
maintain the listing of events. Local event
information, flyers, and Web links can be
sent directly to Betty for posting to the site.
Please E-mail event information to Betty
at [email protected], or mail it to her at
8051 Michigan Ave., Whittier CA 90602;
telephone: (562) 696-4145.
Information for 2005 events received by
December 31, 2004, will be included in a
printed version of the Event Calendar to be
distributed at the AMA Convention in
January, in Ontario, California.
Till next time ... Keep ’em safe and Keep
’em fly’n.
Associate Vice Presidents
Glenn Carter Walnut Creek CA (925) 933-2086
Jim Giffin Sacramento CA (916) 296-6165
Wayne Hamada Honolulu HI (808) 521-7733
Bill Malvey Ladera Ranch CA (949) 481-8621
Jerry Neuberger Santee CA (619) 258-4477
Bob Reynolds Tucson AZ (520) 296-8183
Frequency Coordinators
George Steiner Sacramento CA (916) 362-1962
(See last month’s column for additional AVPs and
Coordinators)
Arizona / California / Hawaii /
Guam / Nevada / Utah
Richard Hanson
Vice President
PO Box 3312
Scottsdale AZ 85271
Voice/Fax: (888) 899-3548
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site : www.ama10.org
District X Report
04sept.qxd 6/23/04 10:43 am Page 158
Edition: Model Aviation - 2004/09
Page Numbers: 158