Wow - 9 years!
Has it really been that long? Was it only 9 years ago?
In a way, contradicting questions, but sometimes it feels both ways. Sometimes it seems like only yesterday that Tom Mitchell KB3LFC (at the time) and John Shannon K3WWP announced their idea for a new club that would cater toward the crowd that was passionate about QRP and CW. Since those two areas are my "cup of tea", as soon as I saw that announcement, I pounced on it like a hungry cat on a bowl of Friskies. I signed up and was fortunate to become NAQCC member # 35. In the early years, I was able to help Tom and John spread the word about the club, and was made the club's first Publicity Officer, sending out announcements of Sprints, articles to Ham publications about the club, and even suggesting to John the possibility of establishing a new look for the club newsletter.
And yet, with regards to the other question, sometimes it feels like the NAQCC has been around forever. Monthly Sprints, monthly challenges, a very good monthly newsletter, and a healthy membership roster are just some of the signs of a well organized and well run Amateur Radio club. And the NAQCC is very healthy. When I was no longer able to continue doing publicity on a regular basis, due to family commitments, Dave VA3RJ took up the slack and took over. And other club members volunteered to pitch in and take on other important club roles - all the sign of a very healthy organization. But perhaps the greatest example of this is this is when the two original founders decided that it was time to pass on the baton of leadership, there was not even a hiccup. Paul Huff N8XMS walked up to the plate with bat in hand, and is ready to hit the ball out of the park for the NAQCC club members.
So if you're a member of the NAQCC, you have reason to be proud - very proud indeed!
To celebrate the 9th Anniversary, the club is planning various activities. All will be announced in the next edition of the newsletter, being e-mailed later this week. But I have been granted permission to talk about two of them right now.
The first you may already be familiar with. Every October, the NAQCC conducts its N#A Special Event operations, in honor of its founding. All the call sign areas get an NA operator(s), whether it be N1A, N2A, N3A, etc. The goal is to work as many of these stations as you can. This year will be no exception, and the festivities will commence on October 6th. QSLs commemorating each district will be available as well a special certificate if you manage to work N#A stations in all ten call districts..
Later in the month, the monthly NAQCC Sprint will be turned into a "Special Anniversary Sprint". All of the N#A stations will be on the air for that evening. Nine special prizes (9th Anniversary, get it?) will be awarded by a random drawing from submitted logs. So if you'd like to win something (and the NAQCC has a reputation for awarding good stuff), then "you have to be in it to win it" as the commercial goes.
And here's another sign of a VERY healthy and popular organization. As you may or may not know, the NAQCC holds a regularly scheduled, two hour long Sprint each month. The record number of log submissions was 194 for the 100th Sprint Celebration back in February of this year. 194 logs for a regularly scheduled monthly Sprint - how's them apples? Them apples is phenomenal - that's what!
So like I said, if you're already a member of the NAQCC, go ahead, puff out your chest - you've got something to be proud of! You, your founders and club officers have accomplished an amazing amount in your first nine years. And the very best thing is that the NAQCC's outlook is very FB, OM! But if you're not a member - just what the heck are you waiting for? There are no dues - just fun, and a lot of it. If you're a fan of CW and QRP there is NO reason on God's green Earth for you not to be a member of the North American QRP CW Club. Just follow the instructions provided here. And if you want to, you can tell 'em Larry W2LJ's Blog sent you. That and two bucks will buy you a cup of coffee!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
when you care to send the very least......love it
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