Welcome to December!
Today is December 5th. Thanksgiving was just last week, and next week Friday December 12th is our Club’s Decemberfest celebration. The weekend after that is the last weekend before Christmas, and 1 week later is Jan 1st, 2026 ! Crazy how time flies, but this is how it goes for me every year. Does time go too fast for you too? I’ve read that our brains mark the passage of time based on new things we do or encounter. Change nothing and do the same thing over and over again, and time will whiz on by. Change things up, do new stuff, experience new things – when you look back, it will feel like time didn’t go by so fast. Based on my current perception of time, I need to change things up.
Something new I am building is the same portable vertical antenna that Ben K6QV built and talked about at our November club meeting during the Home Brew Night portion. It is the ‘POTA Performer’ antenna by Greg Mihran KJ6ER https://tinyurl.com/27kx2ckb. I’ve been impressed with Ben’s antenna, both its performance and how fast it is to set up and take down (< 5 mins), having used it at several of our Portable Operations and Help sessions, but also at the Micro HamFest this past August. Self supporting, it doesn’t require any trees or structures to attach to. I’ve bought all the pieces and now need to make the radials and a threaded adapter for the telescoping antenna’s metric threads. I should have it completed in time to try it out at January’s Portable Operations and Help session.
Decemberfest is Coming!
Instead of meeting at our usual location, on December 12th we will be gathering at Black Bear Diner in Ventura for our Decemberfest Celebration. We have 62 spots reserved for the people who signed up. 50% of you have already prepaid for your dinner – Thank you! The signup list can be viewed here: https://tinyurl.com/cjuwe2ny
We encourage folks to pre-pay for your dinner using this Paypal link: https://k6mep.org/donations/ Be sure to state in the payment notes that you are paying for your Decemberfest dinner. Dinner cost for members is $20 per person, maximum of 2 people per household (thank you club officers for again allowing the club to subsidize the dinner cost for members). For non-members the cost is $39.00. Payment can also be made at the dinner (thank you treasurer John!) However, the more folks that can pay ahead of time, the more John gets to enjoy the festivities and not have to work.
For Decemberfest there will be food, dessert, an optional gift exchange, trivia, installment of our 2026 officers, and some nice raffle prizes. Doors open at 6:00pm, food will be served at 7:00pm sharp, and we close up by 9:30pm. If you wish to participate in the gift exchange (it is optional) please bring a wrapped new, or like-new, item costing around $15.00.
November Election Results and Vacancies
In November we held our club elections. Congratulations to everyone that ran! Our officers for 2026 are:
Treasurer – John Gartman W6JPG
Board of Director – Jeremy Climer KN6JMD
Board of Director – Clement Alberts KM6OKZ
Board of Director – Alan Majeski AK6MF
Unfortunately these positions are vacant:
President
Vice President
Secretary
To address this situation, the current and new officers held an impromptu meeting to discuss how to keep the club functional and viable. The outcome was positive, and I feel good that the solution discussed will keep the club running. Per our bylaws, officers are allowed to nominate people for interim positions, and we will be exercising that ability.
Many Hands Make Light Work – We Need You!
Besides the vacancies listed above, we need volunteers to take ownership or help in planning the activities that we all love to participate in throughout each year. We have nets (Monday 2M/70cm, Wednesday HF, Sunday 10M), VE sessions, monthly Portable Operations and Help events, Field Day and Decemberfest and picnic planning, just to name a few. Historically all these events have been owned/lead by the same few people. However if there were more volunteers sharing the load, the burden would become less for those helping.
Please consider helping the club by adopting one of these functions/events. Please note that ownership does not mean you have to do all the work. For example, if you were to take ownership of the Monday Night Net, your responsibility could be to just line folks up to take spots throughout the year.
Interested? Please let us know by sending us an email at info@vcarc.club, or come up and talk to us at any club event.
This is my last Pres Says
This should not be news to anyone as I spilled the beans in October, however the time has come. I will no longer be your club president after the Decemberfest Dinner December 12th. Life has become so full of stuff to do that it is stealing hours away from sleeping, and I have near zero down time. Every evening and weekend is precious, and time overall is going much too fast for me. I had to make a change.
I am not leaving this club however. I very much enjoy helping, interacting, and socializing with each and every one of you – I just won’t be at every event or net. I still plan to keep VE sessions going, and on those same months, the Portable Operations and Help sessions. I still plan to help with the website, and assist with Field Day.
It has been my absolute pleasure being a board member, VP, and finally President of this wonderful club. The things we’ve accomplished have been amazing! So this is not goodbye, it’s letting someone else drive while I become a passenger.
Thank you all for your patronage and friendship!
Dave AI6VX
