General Membership Meeting Minutes
August 8, 2016

The meeting was called to order at 6:58pm by Nick, KD8JBG.  Dave DeVos, KF8QL gave a presentation about VHF/UHF roving/contesting prior to the business meeting.  The business meeting was called to order at 8:20pm.

Secretary's Report (Todd, W8YHF):

	Minutes of the July 2016 meeting were accepted as published on the website.

Treasurer's Report (Rich, WA8MTI):

	General Fund:	 	$3,711.88
	Membership:   		$126.76

	Total:        		$3,838.64

	Treasurer's report was accepted as read.
	
Upcoming events:

	HARC Programs:

		August:
			8/22 E.A.T.: Instructional electronics videos, and a presentation on more advanced topics by Jeff, KD8THX.

		September:
			9/12 Monthly Meeting: TBD
			9/26 E.A.T.: Instructional electronics videos, and a presentation on more advanced topics by Jeff, KD8THX.

		VE Testing:

			VE Testing is conducted at the Red Cross (schedule TBD)

			“Ham in a Day” events will be held at 1pm on October 8th in Lowell, and on August 13th and December 10th in Holland. VE Testing follows each event at 6pm.

			For more information, or to register for the Ham in a Day class, please visit: http://tinyurl.com/holohiad 

	National Parks on the Air (NPOTA):

			From the ARRL Website (http://www.arrl.org/NPOTA):

				“Throughout 2016, Amateur Radio will be helping the National Park Service celebrate their 100th anniversary.
				Hams from across the country will activate NPS units, promote the National Park Service and showcase Amateur Radio to the public.”

			You can follow NPOTA activity on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/NPOTA or on Twitter: @ARRL_NPOTA

	North Korea DXpedition:

		Polish ham Dom Grzyb, 3Z9DX will be operating from North Korea this year on very short notice.  More details available via ARRL at http://bit.ly/1txkcwB 
						
Old Business:

	Hats/Banner:

		Phil, K8PVH delivered hats at the meeting and displayed the new banner.

	Field Day:

		HARC thanks John for coordinating our Field Day operation.

	Amazon Smile:

		HARC has set up an account on Amazon to receive a percentage of our members’ Amazon purchases if they choose to designate HARC as their selected charity.  More information about the Amazon Smile program is available at http://smile.amazon.com/gp/aw/ch/about.

		Nick, KD8JBG and Rich, WA8MTI are working through the approval process for the account.  It seems to be a dead end, and we may need to start over.

	Ham in a Day / VE Testing:

		Tom, K8TB: To this point, HARC has charged $35 for Ham in a Day, with $15 going to the VEC.  We are now using the Laurel VEC; we intend to charge $25 starting with the next testing session.

	Outing for Scouting:

		Bob, K8RJB is looking for volunteers set up and help during the day at the Boy Scouts “Outing for Scouting” on October 15th: https://scoutingevent.com/?outingforscouting 

		The event will be held at Berlin Raceway.  This event runs concurrently with Jamboree on the Air.

	Kiwanis Shoe Drive:

		Hank, K8HLD mentioned that the Kiwanis Club of Holland is having a shoe drive.  They are looking for old shoes in good condition; they will be sent to developing nations.  You can bring your shoes to a club meeting and give them to Hank.

		More information on Kiwanis Holland can be found at their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/kiwnishollandmi/?fref=ts

	Red Cross Building:

		Tom, K8TB: Per the American Red Cross organization, the building will be listed for sale.  HARC will need to find a new space to hold meetings.  We are looking for a cutoff date so that we know when we need to start holding meetings elsewhere.

		Gilbert, KD8UHI: There will probably be a 2 month window between any sale agreement and closing.

	Website:

		Tom, K8TB: Our website was hacked last month, and malware was inserted into the site.  As of this time, the website is back up and running.  Tom made a motion to reimburse Pete Hoffswell, N9SSA in the amount of $188.25 for professional cleanup of the website.  Motion passed.

	Park2Park:

		Todd, W8YHF: HARC provided communications assistance at this event for the first time in 2015.  This year, we would like to have operators on the course in addition to the Ottawa County Fairgrounds.  Todd will be meeting with the race director in early August to plan our involvement, and he will be asking for volunteers shortly thereafter.

		The race will be held on Saturday, September 24th.  More information about the Park2Park race is available at http://www.park2parkrace.com/ 

		Todd will be meeting with the race director tomorrow.  Call for volunteers will be posted on the reflector.

	Coast Guard Festival:

		Tom, K8TB: The Coast Guard Parade went well.  We answered calls to help six students.  John, KC8UNY posted a thank-you on the reflector.
	 
	Spark in the Park:

		Tom, K8TB: The event will be held on Saturday, August 20th from 3-8pm at the Home School Building, 5625 Burlingame Ave. SW, Wyoming, MI [map: https://goo.gl/maps/nxmia6gUyWN2].

		The Michigan VHF/UHF Society (http://mivus.org/) will hold a meeting at Spark in the Park. (4pm)

		For more information on Spark in the Park, see http://www.k8tb.org/sitp.htm 

New Business:

	None to report.

The business meeting was adjourned at 8:42pm.
 
Submitted:
Todd Boss, W8YHF
Holland ARC Secretary
secretary@hollandarc.org 

Please contact the Secretary with comments or corrections.