Annual Report, 2023

Notice from the President, Steve Urso, N1CM:

The Year in Review: The 2023 SARA club officers elected by the membership in January are Steve Urso, President; Jonathan Shapiro, Vice President; Terry Papazidis, Secretary; Terry Martin, Treasurer; Fred Cunningham, Program Director; and John Sabini, Web-site Maintainer. In addition, Gaetano Galletta was voted in as Director-at-Large/POTA chairperson by the new board at its January meeting. I would like to personally thank them all for their efforts on behalf of the club this year. We should all be proud of the SARA membership for their participation and support.

As 2022 came to an end, we look forward to what awaits us in 2023. In this age of electronic and social media, hard copy has become a thing of the past. And boy did we learn that these last couple of years. Most of our interactions are done via Zoom, I will notify members and friends for the next scheduled SARA Zoom meeting each month. You do not need to join or be a member of Zoom. If you do not get the meeting invite, contact me and I will send it to you.

 
We are trying really hard to get back into the Government Center for in-person meetings. As President, I am working on finding new ways to include the scope and feel of our club into the meetings, along with general club information. Many club members are working FT-8 and some of us are “Hunters” and “Activators” in POTA. I hope to get us out in the parks during the upcoming year. We have done a hand full of activations. The club sends out emails via Goggle Groups. You do not need a Google account to accept the invite you will receive.

If you have not received an invite and would like to join, and receive informative info related to Amateur Radio, email me.
My email address is N1CM@arrl.net

With that in mind, I would like to actively solicit ideas from you, the membership, as to how to improve our club communications. Also, any member is encouraged to reach out to any board member if they wish to assist with any club actives.
Highlights of the year include: Continued updates to our SARA website; We now have a W1EE club remote radio for members use. Please go to our website and check it out. We have Program Videos on YouTube. Please take some time to check them out.

W1DYN, host the rebirth of SARA-Stamford CT. Sunday night net on 2 meters. 146.655 MHz
PL- 100.7:30 PM. Jon, W1DYN will take check ins at 7:30. Also on W1EE-R Echolink. Single Stations Only.

Field Day was low key compared to our Field Day as in the past, with mostly casual actives. SARA’s 2022 Field Day, which was a scaled-down operation this year, and in memory of Stan Rothman who was a BIG part of our club became a silent key, was nonetheless a successful effort!

Membership Renewal for 2022. We look forward to your membership renewal and participation in the coming year and hope to have programs involving various topics of interest at our regular monthly meetings. Please post your renewal by the end of March so we will have a current total of members. We stand ready to "Elmer" members, following social distancing guidelines, in putting up antennas, equipment selection and operating procedures for getting on the air and making contacts near and far. Membership is open to all licensed hams. Dues are $25.00 for the year, which include membership for you and your immediate family.We have not increased our dues in over 10 or more years.

Dues are $10.00 for matriculated students and hams that live outside a 50-mile radius of Stamford. Your dues money pays the costs associated with our website, business registration and taxes, mailing list, insurance, operation of 3 repeaters at two sites plus their care and maintenance, along with Field Day operation. This includes the equipment, supplies, and meals. Over the years, many members have included a tax-deductible donation in addition to their required dues, and that is always appreciated. You can register for membership online using pay via PayPal. You do not need a PayPal account to do so. The new website's membership page is not quite as streamlined as last year's, but it gets you 90% of the way there. Fill out the form, and once this is done and submitted, click the PayPal link to pay using PayPal Friends & Family. Use tamfordamateurradio@gmail.com as the payment destination and make a note in the payment of your name and call so that we can credit you properly. We are looking into other ways of electronically paying, hopefully in the near future. Mail-in dues via Mailing doc File or PDF File.

Thanks for your continuing support and 73's.
Steve Urso, N1CM, President

J/S WB1GRB 

1/14/2023

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