President’s Message
President’s Message
HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope everyone had a great holiday season and that Santa delivered all the radio goodies you asked for. 2024 was another great year for TARC: our membership grew, we had some great operating events during the year, and we saw the rebirth of two amateur radio clubs in area schools. What a great year it was!
Our holiday party on December 4th was attended by 59 club members and their guests. Dwight and Deborah KT4DDS served as greeters at the door. Pat and Steve Phillips NS4P with help from Tonia Porada (W4IEE XYL) did all the planning, coordination, and decorating for the party. San K3SY provided a slide show of photographs from various club events and activities that ran for the entire evening. A special door prize (soldering iron) was donated by Tony KX1G and won by Randy KO4PIV.
Back by popular demand, the board of directors has approved a third year of financial incentives for club members to upgrade their licenses; including Advanced to Extra. See the article inside The Communicator for all the details.
We have a number of great events coming up in the first few months of 2025. Winter Field Day is the last weekend in January, a charter bus trip to Hamvention in Orlando on February 8th, and the third annual TARC BBQ&Q on March 1st. Mark you calendars now and reserve the dates to enjoy some good ham radio fun and camaraderie this Spring.
But the biggest upcoming event of all will be the Pine View School students talking with an astronaut on the International Space Station. TARC, with some help from the Ft. Myers ARC will facilitate this amateur radio contact during the last week in January, 2025. An exact date won’t be available until the first week in January. Anyone will be able to view a live stream broadcast of this historic event. Standby for more details in January.
REMINDER: Dues are due now and unpaid memberships will be cancelled on March 1st.