Presidents Message for March 2009 As you read this, thousands of other aviation enthusiasts are reading a report of our last meeting in the March issue of In Flight USA. Rick Turner's meeting report is spaced over two pages with a link to the society's website. The X-Hunters, Peter Merlin and Tony Moore, presented a fantastic talk at our December 2008 holiday meeting, and the board of directors figured we should share our success with the greater aviation community. We thank In Flight USA for helping us get the word out about our organization, and hope you'll support the magazine as well. As of this issues of Touch & Go's press time, one person has already become a member as a result of this story. Getting the word out about our organization is being done by our membership committee, Alice Hendricks and Rick Turner. Thank you, both. The society's educational programs are a tremendous asset to our organization and a great value for our members. In the past our recording of the meetings was hit-or-miss, but in 2008 we got serious about taping the meetings for posterity. In addition, with our increasing number of out-of-area members, being able to offer dvds of the meetings has become an added membership benefit. We currently have 11 meetings on dvd, ranging from Theodore "Dutch" Van Kirk - the Enola Gay's navigator (meeting date Dec. 14, 1996), to our most recent meeting with The X-Hunters (Dec. 2, 2008). Currently Roger Cain is doing the videotaping, but he's got plenty of other responsibilities and we'd like to find two people who can assist with taping duties at our meetings. Please call me if you can help. In addition, Andy Melomet has taken on the task of converting the tapes to dvd, which, to someone with my video skills, is purely magic. Thank you Andy and Roger. The April meeting will be the first opportunity for us to recognize the recipient of the Col. Ben Donahue Memorial Scholarship. The scholarship entitles a deserving young aviator the opportunity to attend one of our meetings and to receive a one-year membership to our society. I hope you'll take a minute to talk to the scholarship winners at our meetings and recognize their achievements both civic and academic. For more details on the April recipient of the Col. Ben Donahue Memorial Scholarship see page 10 of this edition of Touch & Go. In closing, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all of our members and volunteers who help make this organization such a success. The meetings are the best, and the little things you do add so much value to our membership. - Nick Veronico
Past President Messages are linked below:
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