Greetings to All,
Well, here it is December. The year is winding down and the OVH event calendar is over for the year. Overall, 2022 has been a lot better than the last two years, and we continue to grow back into normalcy. We returned to Hamfest this year from last year’s Covid inspired Tailgate Party. We had excellent turn outs for Field Day this year as well as our Mini-Tri and Warrior Bike Ride events. Things will continue to improve in 2023 and I am counting on your continued support of club activities.
Get ready to renew your membership. Your annual dues are $25 now, after a club vote at the October meeting. Please remember the new amount when you make your payment.
See the mail in Flyer for renewing your club membership later in this Newsletter. Also, OVH’s web site, W4OVH.net, allows you to renew online. In order for you to be eligible to vote in our upcoming February election, you will need to be current with all of your dues.
Now would be a good time to start thinking about nominees for club leadership positions. You might even decide to serve your fellow members as an officer. You will still need to be a member in good standing to be on the ballot.
Another reminder: The annual ARRL Straight Key Night (SKN) returns on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, January 1, 0000 – 2359 UTC, which is 7:00 PM EST on December 31st. This promises to be a lot of fun for the novice (hint, hint new members) as well as experienced CW operators – there is a surprising amount of activity on the HF bands. For more information, please follow the link:
http://www.arrl.org/news/straight-key-night-is-january-1-2022-utc
Since last month’s President’s Letter, the OVH supported the Prince William 5k Turkey Trot and Mashed Potato Mile at The Freedom Aquatic & Fitness Center, Manassas – Please see John, KG4NXT’s article of November 30th.
https://w4ovh.net/ovh-supports-turkey-trot/
On December 3rd, the Ole Virginia Hams supported the 76th Annual Greater Manassas Christmas Parade.
The parade ran from 10 AM until 12 noon but many of the participants were there prepping from 6:30 AM on. The weather was awful during the prep time but continued to clear from start time throughout the day.
Yours truly towed the club trailer with Theresa, KG4TVM giving moral support & helping with directions. (Yes, it IS possible for me to make a wrong turn even in a parade).
Thank you to everyone who went out to help provide communications support. And thank you to both George, K4GVT for organizing our club’s participation and Theresa, KG4TVM, for entering and trying to decorate the trailer for the parade. I say trying because, when we tried, the rain was making everything just slide off the sides of our trailer.
I can’t vouch for the other participants who were in that early rough weather, but I hope they all had as nice a time as I did in helping with this event. If you have never volunteered for this in the past, you should try it next year; it was a lot of fun.
George, K4GVT, also roamed the parade route taking pictures, so check link in this newsletter for some of the pictures from this event.
https://www.k4gvt.com/ovh/Manassas%20Christmas%20Parade%202022/index.html
Our World Famous OVH Christmas Party was December 11th, once again held at the Yorkshire Restaurant. We had a good turnout. I had forgotten to count, but we seemed to have 40 to 46 people, which would be about 10 to 12 more than last year. Several awards were handed out. Your Officer Cadre (John, KG4NXT – Secretary; Don, WA2SWX – Treasurer; Tony, KM4KLB – Vice President and yours truly, Ken, KN4DD – President) received handsome, spill proof coffee cups stenciled our names, call sign, position & year.
Additionally, Don, WA2SWX was given a Lifetime Achievement Award for his years both as Treasurer and as Hamfest Chairman. When Don took over our affairs in these areas, they were less than optimum. He has worked quite hard over the years to get us to where we are today. Our repeater committee received certificates of appreciation – Gil, KM4OZH; John, KG4NXT; Al, KB4BHB; Byron, AK4XR; Cat, KM4PBD; Jeff, WB4TT, and George. K4GVT. The Chief of our Technical Committee, Ken, KE2N was presented with an acrylic award of appreciation.
Congratulations to all of this year’s award winners.
Another thank you to Theresa, KG4TVM for organizing the party & coordinating to get our pair of Marines, who dined with us and received our donations to the 75th Annual Toys for Tots campaign. It is my belief that the US Marine Corps dress blue uniform is the sharpest of all branches of the US Services. This, coming from an old Army guy, is saying something.
Thank you to everyone to donated gifts to Toys 4 Tots during this difficult year, and thanks to everyone who came out to the party. Thanks too, to the Yorkshire Restaurant for again hosting us and providing us with the turkey and ham.
It sure seems as if George, K4GVT, has become our resident photographer. See his party pics at:
https://www.k4gvt.com/ovh/christmasparty2022/index.html
No monthly breakfast this month, due to the Holiday Season. We will resume our breakfast on Saturday, January 14th at 8:00 AM.
As our Christmas Party was also December’s monthly meeting, our next monthly meeting will be next year – Tuesday, January 17th.
W4OVH Monthly Meeting
7:30 PM – 9:00 PM EDT
Buckhall VFD Hall
7190 Yates Ford Road
Manassas, VA 20111
Our January presentation will be on the upcoming VA QSO party.
Also, a reminder to check in to the OVH’s Thursday night VHF/UHF repeater net at 8 PM.
The details for that are on the OVH’s web site: https://w4ovh.net
Lastly, a special thank you to Theresa, KG4TVM. While not leaving the club, after years of dedication doing her Sunshine Column, she is hanging up her Underwood Nº 5 typewriter. This December is her last foray as our Sunshine Columnist. Once again, thank you. Your work will be missed. Andrea, KI4SXM will be taking over from Theresa in January. While Theresa left some big shoes to fill, we know that Andrea is up for the challenge.
Thank you and Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all.
Questions, comments or war stories can be directed to my e-mail: KN4DD@arrl.net
Very 73,
Ken, KN4DD