| Volume 40 Issue 6 | February 2001 |
| Volume 40 Issue 6 | February 2001 |
Let me first start off with an apology for those of you who went looking for our January meeting and weren’t able to find us. We discovered when we got to the Wright Library that they had not honored our reservation due to a problem with the application. As a result, we were forced to move down the street to the Oakwood High School. I have heard from two people who tried to find us and couldn’t. I’ve talked to the library at length about the problem, and although we were unable to come to what I consider to be an equitable resolution, we now know why the problem occurred and how to avoid it in the future.
The program in January, for those who couldn’t make it, was a presentation by Ron Dietrich on building the J Line. Ron is rapidly closing in on a MMR award, and his presentation made it evident as to why. Ron agreed to fill in at the last minute due to a conflict with the scheduled presentation. Thanks, Ron!
The crux of the problem with getting the library is that it appears that a number of new groups have discovered the great meeting place the library is. In the future, we’ll have to reserve the library as soon as we can - we can‘t afford to wait. The library currently accepts reservations up to six months in advance, which means that they are now accepting reservations through July. Unfortunately, they have reserved the room through July for other groups on our normal meeting day.
We’ll be at Park Manor in February for the auction, but beyond that our meeting place is in limbo until we can start reserving the library again for the September meeting. If you have any ideas on a potential meeting place, please tell a BOG member. Watch the Callboard carefully to find out where we’ll be from month to month.
The problems with the room reservation drive home the need for advance planning - and frequent follow-up checks to make certain there are no problems! This is true of many things in life - some of us are better at it than others.
One thing that division is deep into the advance planning on is the 2002 Regional Convention, The Gem City Flyer. The Convention Committee is now meeting monthly to prepare for our presentation at the Louisville Regional in May of this year.
This event will take all of us to put on - we’re even getting Phil Queen back into the fold to help us with the Raffle. Jim Foster is the latest volunteer to help out the convention committee, and is looking into prototype tours along with Brian Petroziello. Fred Schneider is hosting the next committee meeting, at which we hope to finalize the convention logo and nail down the convention budget a little better.
We’re going to need lots of help - in registration, in the contest room, with the switching contest, with the raffle, in the hospitality room, and lots of other areas. It would be nice to have enough help that we can all enjoy at least some of what we’ll offer at the convention. As the old saw goes, many hands make light work. I know you’ll come through!
Another horror story on advance planning is evident in the recent problems experienced by the Bulletin. I know that many of you are wondering just exactly what the story is there. Elsewhere in this issue of the Callboard, you’ll find a letter from Connie Rudder, Executive Director, explaining the problem. I’ve received both my November and December issues at this point, and expect that they’ll be back on track soon.
There is one thing that’s coming up soon that we all need to be planning for, right now! Clean out those basements and closets and bring what you find to the Division 3 Auction! There are always bargains to be had, as well as a few surprise items. I know that I have a bunch of material from the previous layout that I have stored as long as I can, so I’ll be bringing a bunch of kitbashing parts and partially cannibalized structures.
Of course, to do that, I’ll have to dig through the boxes and figure out where I stored all that stuff. But that’s okay, I’ve been planning to do that anyhow!
Happy Modeling!
Ray
© 2001 Division 3, MCR, NMRA