Minutes of Remote Possibilities R/C Club - Meeting December 2007

Remote Possibilities RC Club (AMA Chartered Club #4167)

Meeting Minutes

December 06, 2007

I.         MEETING OPENING & ATTENDEES

The December, 2007 meeting was held in conjunction with the club’s annual Christmas Party at the Golden Corral restaurant (42 South River Road, St. George, UT).  There were approximately 65 club members and their families in attendance.  This was a B.Y.O.G. (Buy Your Own Grub) event with the gratuity being paid by the club.  The function commenced at ≈18:00.  The formal meeting fraction was called to order ≈19:00 by Casey Scott, Club President. (It is recognized that not all club members are able or want to participate in certain functions.  Just let it be known that those not present were greatly missed.)

II.       AGENDA

The standard agenda is to review any continuing open and new business from previous meetings as well as any new business that may be forthcoming.

III.      OPEN BUSINESS

          CLUB OFFICERS & ASSOCIATED BUSINESS

Casey Scott, Club President for calendar year 2007, made a warm and heart-felt speech with respect to his tenure as President and in appreciation of the entire membership.  Mr. Scott then proceeded to announce the 2008 Club Officers as follows:

President:               LaRonzo Lott

Vice President:         Darrel Jensen

Treasurer:               Dennis Church

Safety Officer:         Al “Bones” Martin (unannounced, but implicitly                                             understood)

Secretary:               Dean Child

LaRonzo Lott graciously thanked the 2007 officers for their time and hard work.  He also, specifically, thanked Casey Scott for his efforts as President during the preceding year as; “… stepping up to the plate…”. 

In years past, the local hobby shop (Hobby Hut, of 1122 West Sunset Boulevard, St. George, UT) has enthusiastically supported the club and its members through tangible and immeasurable intangible means.  LaRonzo, in light of some recent management changes at the Hobby Hut, made it clear how much Remote Possibilities was thankful for the previous management (specifically, Lorin Reider) and current staff’s efforts and support.  LaRonzo also congratulated Walt Fletcher in his position as the new Hobby Hut manager and a round of applause ensued toward the success of both Lorin and Walt in their future endeavors as well as that of the hobby.  Their were additional general remarks made by LaRonzo with respect to how much each individual’s membership and participation is appreciated and that the success of the club is dependent upon them, collectively.

IV.       NEW BUSINESS

ANNUAL AWARDS & RECOGNITION

The club typically recognizes various categories ranging from philanthropic efforts to infamous crashes.  The club would like to thank the Hobby Hut and Walt Fletcher, as the new Manager of the Hobby Hut, for contributing the award plaques as well as their commitment to the hobby.  Walt is an adamant supporter of the hobby and an accomplished pilot, with particular emphasis on scale radio-controlled airplane models. 

THANK YOU HOBBY HUT FOR SUPPORTING THE CLUB… WE’RE LUCKY TO HAVE SUCH A GREAT STORE AND HELPFUL, PERSONABLE, STAFF NEARBY!!!

Casey Scott announced the annual awards, and their respective recipients, as follows:

1)        “MOST IMPROVED PILOT” - Larry Porter congenially accepted the award accompanied by a wonderfully genuine acceptance speech.

2)        “MVP” – Jerry Law warmly accepted the Most Valuable Pilot award and gave a kindred speech.  Jerry also gave the group a brief update on the new flying site.  Specifically, Jerry mentioned that we are still awaiting finalization of the Memorandum of Understanding with the City of St. George, Utah.

3)        “HORIZON AWARD” - Andrew Taylor was acknowledged as the club’s most up-and-coming young pilot.  Andrew is the son of member Stan Taylor.  For those who know Stan one can plainly see what a skilled and fine young man Andrew is.

4)        “CAPTAIN CRUNCH” – Dennis Church graciously accepted his award and though Dennis declined to speak, presumably due to the nature of the award, no speech could convey the message quite as well as the award itself which is awarded to the poor soul who suffers the most memorable or infamous crash of the year.

Approximately September, 2007 the club voted upon, and agreed, to make Mark Leisberg an Honorary Lifetime Member of the club.  Mark is an accomplished RC pilot, the details of which is too extensive to mention herein, and was present at the function.  Casey Scott thanked Mark for his patronage of the club and the group applauded the move subsequent to Mark’s sincere comments regarding Mr. Bill Boice, Mr. and Mrs. JayDon Blake, the community, and the club at large.

DOOR PRIZE DRAWINGS

LaRonzo Lott put together a fun way of awarding door prizes.  Each club member was given a door prize ticket.  All of the tickets went into the basket provided by Steve Horne (THANKS STEVE!) and then drawn one at a time.  As drawn, the ticket holder drew one of nine (?... exact count) playing cards, which was assigned beforehand to a given prize.  The process was repeated until all cards were drawn (not a lot of options for the last number drawn… but made the choice easier as well).

CLUB MEETING LOCATION & TIME FOR CALENDAR YEAR 2008

Aside from the upcoming New Year’s Day event; Club President, LaRonzo Lott, reminded everyone that the club meetings shall be held on the first Tuesday of the month at 18:30 (i.e., 6:30 P.M.) and at the following location:

Senior Citizens Center

245 North  200 West

Saint George, Utah

(proceed to; “the building at the back of the parking lot”)

UPCOMING EVENTS

1)  New Year’s Day Event: This is a “Fun Fly” to be held on Tuesday, January 01, 2008 at the Old Airport (current flying field).  This event will also serve as the January, 2008 Club Meeting.  Membership renewal will occur during the day (see below).  There will be hot dogs and condiments provided for club members and their families as well as prospective new club members.  Additionally, a “Chilly” Cook-Off of sorts will be held.  Typically this consists of club officers and anyone else wishing to participate whipping up their favorite batch of their secret chili recipes for the benefit of all.  (Dean’s Translation?... make some chili if you will… come and eat some chili if you wish... no liability assumed, expressed, or implied for any aftermath and/or otherwise!!!)

2)  Membership Renewal:  This will be held in conjunction with the New Years’ day event.  All current and prospective club members are apparently required to provide verification of AMA Membership (per the AMA Bylaws as listed in the AMA Membership Manual), so please make sure you’re an AMA Member by year’s end.  Annual dues are $25 for adults (18yrs and older) and $10 for minors.

V.        TREASURERS REPORT 

There was no report due to time constraints. (It is most likely the next report will be during the February, 2008 meeting.)

VI.       APPROVAL OF MINUTES

The minutes from the special meeting held Saturday, November 17, 2007 were posted on the club website and distributed via e-mail prior to the last week of November, 2007.  No changes have been suggested nor objections received as of December 07, 2007.  All minutes are considered approved unless noted otherwise within a reasonable amount of time.

VII.     ADJOURNMENT (CONCLUSION OF OFFICIAL MINUTES)

The meeting and Christmas Party adjourned ≈20:30 (12/07/2007). 

The next club meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, January 01, 2008 at the Old Airport flying site.

AGAIN, TO THOSE WHO WERE NOT ABLE TO MAKE IT TO THIS YEAR’S CHRISTMAS PARTY… YOU WERE MISSED AND HOPEFULLY YOU AND YOURS WILL BE ABLE TO MAKE IT NEXT YEAR.

X.        MINUTETAKERS NOTATIONS, COMMENTS, & RAMBLINGS OF YORE

            (preceding note:  since I take the minutes I basically write what I want here, some may be sarcastic, some based on my own demented sense of humor, and some serious.  You’ll know those parts when you come to them, hopefully, and if something makes you angry or upset then you’ve taken it the wrong way… I promise! 

Here’s the thing about taking Minutes… there’s just not a heck of a lot you can do about what I write unless you want to take the minutes yourself, which you don’t because it’s only about 1/10 as fun as it sounds… read on if you wish, otherwise get back to building your airplane.)

Some may be wondering; “What happened to sections VIII & IV?”  “Doesn’t this guy know how to count?”  Well, while there may be sporadic instances of that, particularly after “The Incident” (a story for another day, perhaps), let me explain that I decided to skip those and go straight to “X” since we’re in AMA’s District X.  Get it?  “X”… nevermind.  This month I just wanted to say a few things:

First and foremost… don’t always count on having Minutes this long-winded.  I, like you, have other “stuff” to do.  It just turns out that right now I don’t have as much “stuff” consuming my otherwise invaluable time as usual.  Therefore, sometimes you’ll get more than you wanted, sometimes less,and sometimes just right.  I like to call it; “The Three Bears Principle of Minute Recording”… I genuinely hope you like bears.

Secondly… I don’t write like I talk.  I can’t help it and if “fifty-cent” words bother you then you might want to have someone more patient than yourself read these to you and sort of edit as they go... it’s really your call and your blood pressure at stake, not mine.  Besides, I’ve always been accused of this malady (darn it, there’s another one) and it probably won’t change anytime soon.  Consider this… I don’t spell so well anymore.  If anybody points out a spelling or one of the 259 grammatical errors herein I’ll forever be in your debt, so “Go Nuts”, as it were, and I might even consider your suggestions.  Doubtful, but maybe.  Notwithstanding, during the course of the Christmas party everyone was observed as having a good time.  I hope everyone who attended shares this sentiment.  There were no brawls, nor invitations to leave, nor arguments over the last piece of pumpkin pie.  I kept hoping someone would extemporaneously dance on the table tops whilst singing Christmas carols or perhaps call for an impromptu scone-eating contest, but to no avail on either count.  I didn’t see any whole hard-boiled eggs around the buffet, either… I’m guessing there’s a reason for that!  I wonder if they heard about “The Incident” I mentioned earlier?  There were plenty of laughs and smiles… thanks to everyone for coming and thanks to Gary Stevenson for the “wind-break / break-wind” joke.  What a fantastic party!!!  Again, I hope that sentiment is shared by all.  If not, please speak up during one of the club meetings since it is (your) suggestions that make the club what it is and what it will be.  On a personal note, there are so many club members that I’ve enjoyed getting to know in recent months and so many more that I’m looking forward to getting to know better in future months and years.  Everyone, please get out and fly when you can and think about flying when you can’t.

                                      Happy Holidays,

                                      Dean Child

                                      Secretary

                                      RPRCC