General Membership Meeting Minutes
November 14, 2016

The meeting was called to order at 7:02pm by Nick, KD8JBG.

Secretary's Report (Todd, W8YHF):

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

Treasurer's Report (Rich, WA8MTI):

	General Fund:	 	$3,099.75
	Membership:   		$126.76

	Total:        		$3,226.51

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

	HARC Programs:

		November:
			11/14 Monthly Meeting: TBD
			11/28 E.A.T.: Instructional electronics videos, and a presentation on more advanced topics by Jeff, KD8THX.

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

	VE Testing:

		VE Testing is conducted at the VictoryPoint Ministries youth building on the second Saturdays of March, July, November, and December at 6pm.
		 
		“Ham in a Day” events will be held at 1pm on October 8th in Lowell, and on 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

	Michigan State Parks on the Air (MSPOTA):

		From the MSPOTA Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/MSPOTA2017/):

			“The NORTHERN MICHIGAN AMATEUR RADIO SERVICE TEAM (NM8RT) is working directly with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Parks & Recreation Division to operate a three year HAM Radio event "Michigan State Parks on the Air". MSPOTA is slated to kick-off in June of 2017.”

Old Business:

	VE Testing:

		A VE testing session was conducted last week.  Two people took the test, and one of them passed.

	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.  Our account is set up in Amazon, but we’re having trouble getting set up to receive the donations.

	Outing for Scouting:

		Bob, K8RJB: The Boy Scouts “Outing for Scouting” was held on October 15th.  The scouts made several contacts on the Holland repeater.

	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

	New Member “Welcome Wagon”:

		Jack, KE8CIO would like to help in welcoming new hams to the club.  Tom will get him the list of Ham in a Day graduates.  Jack suggested compiling a list of club members’ technical strengths to aid in elmering the new hams.  He will post an invitation to share this information on the reflector.

	Library Youth STEM Presentation:

		Nick, KD8JBG has not heard any new information from the youth librarian.

	VictoryPoint Youth Building:

		The $25 contribution per meeting that was approved at the last meeting is unsustainable given the club’s current income.  We are forming a committee to analyze our expenses and revenues.  The committee members are: Nick KD8JBG, Dave WA8RSA, Rich KD8MTI, and Josh KE8DXB.

New Business:

	Annual New Hams Dinner:

		Nick, KD8JBG: Motion to approve $30 for door prizes for new hams.  Motion passed.

	Elections:

		Dave, WA8RSA will be chairing the election commission.  Please send nominations to WA8RSA@arrl.net.

	50/50 Raffle:

		Starting tonight, we will hold a 50/50 raffle at each meeting.  Proceeds will go to HARC’s general fund.

	Laptop:

		Tom, K8TB: Motion to spend $75 on a gently used laptop (from Cornerstone) to support EAT meetings, to replace an aging XP laptop.  Motion passed.

	Club Directory:

		Ike, K8EMU: The club directory hasn’t been updated in some time.  Discussion of options (printed and bound, PDF, etc.) followed.  Consensus of club members supported an electronic copy.  We may use Google Sheets to share the document.

The business meeting was adjourned at 7:49pm, followed by two videos on grounding and lightning protection.

Submitted:
Todd Boss, W8YHF
Holland ARC Secretary
secretary@hollandarc.org 

Please contact the Secretary with comments or corrections.