District X Report - 2004/09
Coverage
- Arizona
- California
- Hawaii
- Guam
- Nevada
- Utah
District Officer
Richard Hanson Vice President PO Box 3312 Scottsdale, AZ 85271 Voice/Fax: (888) 899-3548 E-mail: [email protected] Web site: www.ama10.org
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.)
Clubs need individuals with the time, skills, and ability who are willing to serve as club officers.
We all know how important these positions are and how critical it is to our clubs 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 everyday life and, more important, to have fun!
Unfortunately, what I’m going to talk about probably won’t 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. 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 as 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. Officers bear the duty to run the day-to-day business of the club, to protect club assets, to plan for the future, and to serve in an impartial and fair manner.
Depending on the club’s structure and location, there is 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 activities at the flying site, and to ensure the safety of 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 will 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 concerns. The tools available to the club are largely limited to those brought by its members, and resources are inevitably short-handed. It could be argued that, as a national organization, AMA has fallen short in supplying 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 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 those of people who were inadvertently 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. I pledge my support and wish you the best of success.
District Web Site and Event Calendar
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 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 non-sanctioned 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.
- E-mail event information to: [email protected]
- Mail to: Betty Bliss, 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 flyin'.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
