We were just hanging out
under the shade of the trees...
Club idea is discussed for the first time.
....chatting about how much fun we were having. This radio thing was turning out to be a blast. The men were having a great time also, although we couldn't figure out why....they were doing things all wrong.
Really, who cares who made the best Grid-dip Meter back in the fifties? You actually talked to 25 different people in South America today and you didn't get a single recipe for Ajiaco stew or Lomo Saltado?
It turns out that we ladies enjoy communicating just as much as our male counterparts.....only about different things. You say you need a radio operator to drive the SAG wagon at the Tri-athalon....you mean to say that one or more of these strapping hunks is going to need a bit of TLC? Sure, I have a license and a radio.
Anyway, it was up on Mt. Charleston during the 2009 "Hams On The Hill" Field Day that a group of us ladies and girls were sitting around in a circle under the trees, talking about how much fun we were having. This ham radio thing could be a blast...if only our husbands, fathers, and boyfriends would talk about something other than ground radials. The ham club thing would be okay too if they didn't think that 7:00 AM breakfast is the only meeting time. Brunch would be okay....late lunch would be even better....a picnic with our families would be perfect.
Then someone said, "Why don't we start our own ham radio club." We all just stood there in silence for a moment or two while the two sides of our brains tossed this thought back and forth. Why not....our mothers and grandmothers had their social network when they were canning pickles or snapping green beans. Why shouldn't we ladies of the electronic age have a social network based in global communications and technology.
So then and there we decided to become a club. We asked Elizabeth Bigley-KD7RIN to take the lead in getting us started. We set a date in July 2009 for our first meeting. The meeting took place at Desie's Steak House. True to our wishes, it was a late Saturday luncheon.
At our first meeting we elected a slate of officers and named Liz as our President. Ideas flowed freely at this first gathering. Liz presented a name and a logo for us to consider....SOAR....the Sisterhood Of Amateur Radio...perfect we loved the name....now the logo...a set of banners proclaiming our name.... one bordered on each side by a compass....a bald eagle...soaring...with a single rose clenched in its talons. A banner with a strong name, two compasses-one to point us in the right direction, the other to remind us that we have amateur radio sisters in all corners of the world, a soaring eagle-the symbol of our nation-leading us upward, the rose, a token of our feminity. We adopted the name and the logo.
At this first meeting we decided on three levels of membership. Women and girls holding a valid amateur radio license will be granted full membership. Women and girls interested in amateur radio but not holding a license will be granted associate membership. Men and boys who hold a valid license and are the family members of, or significant other of a full or associate member, may hold a non-voting affiliate membership.
During the remainder of 2009 we met monthly, sent out a mailing to YL's in the area, established a web site, and a newsletter. In December we joined the Frontier Amateur Radio Society for their Christmas Luncheon and Yankee Swap gift exchange.
2010 saw our first "Sweetheart Social" in February. Our first picnic followed in April. In June we returned to Field Day on Mt. Charleston as a full fledged ham radio club. We also had our first building party where we constructed Copper J-Pole antennas. We closed the year out by once more joining FARS at the Christmas Party and Gift exchange at Main Street Station.
2011 finds us in the beginning stages of license upgrade classes. Also planned are building parties to construct 5-band shortwave receivers. We returned to Mt. Charleston and the "Hams On The Hill" Field Day event, this time we received equal billing with the Frontier Amateur Radio Society and the Las Vegas Repeater Association as club sponsors of the event!
Really, who cares who made the best Grid-dip Meter back in the fifties? You actually talked to 25 different people in South America today and you didn't get a single recipe for Ajiaco stew or Lomo Saltado?
It turns out that we ladies enjoy communicating just as much as our male counterparts.....only about different things. You say you need a radio operator to drive the SAG wagon at the Tri-athalon....you mean to say that one or more of these strapping hunks is going to need a bit of TLC? Sure, I have a license and a radio.
Anyway, it was up on Mt. Charleston during the 2009 "Hams On The Hill" Field Day that a group of us ladies and girls were sitting around in a circle under the trees, talking about how much fun we were having. This ham radio thing could be a blast...if only our husbands, fathers, and boyfriends would talk about something other than ground radials. The ham club thing would be okay too if they didn't think that 7:00 AM breakfast is the only meeting time. Brunch would be okay....late lunch would be even better....a picnic with our families would be perfect.
Then someone said, "Why don't we start our own ham radio club." We all just stood there in silence for a moment or two while the two sides of our brains tossed this thought back and forth. Why not....our mothers and grandmothers had their social network when they were canning pickles or snapping green beans. Why shouldn't we ladies of the electronic age have a social network based in global communications and technology.
So then and there we decided to become a club. We asked Elizabeth Bigley-KD7RIN to take the lead in getting us started. We set a date in July 2009 for our first meeting. The meeting took place at Desie's Steak House. True to our wishes, it was a late Saturday luncheon.
At our first meeting we elected a slate of officers and named Liz as our President. Ideas flowed freely at this first gathering. Liz presented a name and a logo for us to consider....SOAR....the Sisterhood Of Amateur Radio...perfect we loved the name....now the logo...a set of banners proclaiming our name.... one bordered on each side by a compass....a bald eagle...soaring...with a single rose clenched in its talons. A banner with a strong name, two compasses-one to point us in the right direction, the other to remind us that we have amateur radio sisters in all corners of the world, a soaring eagle-the symbol of our nation-leading us upward, the rose, a token of our feminity. We adopted the name and the logo.
At this first meeting we decided on three levels of membership. Women and girls holding a valid amateur radio license will be granted full membership. Women and girls interested in amateur radio but not holding a license will be granted associate membership. Men and boys who hold a valid license and are the family members of, or significant other of a full or associate member, may hold a non-voting affiliate membership.
During the remainder of 2009 we met monthly, sent out a mailing to YL's in the area, established a web site, and a newsletter. In December we joined the Frontier Amateur Radio Society for their Christmas Luncheon and Yankee Swap gift exchange.
2010 saw our first "Sweetheart Social" in February. Our first picnic followed in April. In June we returned to Field Day on Mt. Charleston as a full fledged ham radio club. We also had our first building party where we constructed Copper J-Pole antennas. We closed the year out by once more joining FARS at the Christmas Party and Gift exchange at Main Street Station.
2011 finds us in the beginning stages of license upgrade classes. Also planned are building parties to construct 5-band shortwave receivers. We returned to Mt. Charleston and the "Hams On The Hill" Field Day event, this time we received equal billing with the Frontier Amateur Radio Society and the Las Vegas Repeater Association as club sponsors of the event!