District I - 2006/12
Contact
Andy Argenio, District I Vice President [email protected]
States
- Connecticut
- Maine
- Massachusetts
- New Hampshire
- Rhode Island
- Vermont
Sooner or later your club may become involved in a struggle to retain its most important asset: the flying site.
It doesn’t matter whether the site is on public or private land; both may be subject to loss from environmental issues, noise restrictions, or ordinance changes. The problem may start from a neighbor’s complaint of noise, an accident involving a model airplane, or a change in the use status of the property as dictated or interpreted by a public official.
Clubs that manage to overcome problems of this type do so because they continue to be proactive with activities that demonstrate their value to the community. These clubs readily act as caretakers of the property their flying sites are on by maintaining, improving, and protecting the property from vandalism. They raise money for charitable organizations at flying events and air shows and conduct educational and recreational programs that introduce the community to the sport of aeromodeling and its many benefits.
Club example: Discover Flying R/C Club — Youth Day
The following write-up from club president Carl Vogel describes a Youth Day activity as an excellent example of the value an AMA club may offer the community.
“For two years now our club, Discover Flying R/C Club, on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, has been striving to find ways to include our community into our club functions. We have extended invitations to the general public to attend our field events such as our cookout and we have been very impressed by the attendance and participation from the community. But our efforts to actively become a part of this community have been a little more challenging considering the limited scope of our sport.
“The club has long felt that since our flying field is owned by the Town of Barnstable, we need to develop programs to demonstrate that we are a viable benefit and an asset to the community. We have also felt that programs involving our youth were extremely desirable and held tremendous potential benefit.
“All of this changed last April when our club was approached by the Town of Yarmouth’s Department of Recreation. The department was seeking a new activity for summer camp and was hopeful that we would have something that fit the requirements.
“After contacting the town’s recreational director, Joan Hogan, we explained that if she could arrange a trip to our flying field, we would be able to offer a program that included flight demonstrations, hands-on flight simulator use, training airplanes, and buddy boxes for everyone to experience flying, an explanation of model aircraft and equipment, and an introduction to AMA and our club.
“Ms. Hogan thought this would be terrific. Many club volunteers stepped up and offered their airplanes, computers, and most valuable of all, their time.
“On Tuesday, July 11, 2006, local boys and girls ranging from 12 to 15 years old, arrived at our field with six Recreation Department chaperones and were immediately welcomed by our attending members. Talk about enthusiasm! Our members were as excited as the kids!
“Four training airplanes were made available for the youngsters to fly. They received instruction about all the facets of the sport of model aviation including the many different disciplines that are available and the associated costs of getting started.
“Since this was a first attempt at a Youth Day event, it was a learning experience that will enable us to offer an even better program the next time around. We are currently working with a Boy Scout troop and another town’s recreation department to conduct future programs.
“Many thanks to:
- Charles Walkley
- John Strome
- Jim Fournire
- Bill Golliff
- Kestutis Bliudnikas
- Bill Abrams
- Bud Newton
- Norm Lague
and everyone who helped. We could not have accomplished this without them.”
By the time you read this column, the holiday season will be starting and the district officers and I will be working on event planning for 2007. If your club has an interest in hosting an event, please contact us.
Future columns will feature reviews of the two 2006 district events. For now, enjoy the gallery of 2006 event pictures on the District I Web site.
Happy Holidays!
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
