Presentations at the February Zoom Meeting

While we have not resumed in-person meetings quite yet due to the COVID-19 Omicron variant, there were two virtual presentations made at the February club meeting.

First, the club’s KB4ZIN award recipient for 2022 was announced. This award was conceived in late 2017 by Bill Conkling NR4C as a way to honor the late Jim Bailey after his passing in April of that year. Jim was the architect of the repeater network in Williamsburg that is still in operation today.

This year’s recipient of the KB4ZIN award is someone that has spent a lot of time mentoring and helping hams in the local area. He has taught license classes and is currently the club’s training coordinator. The recipient orchestrated the creation of a emergency preparedness group in his housing development, and helped the members of the group get their amateur radio licenses.

Most importantly, the recipient is known for his enthusiasm for the amateur radio hobby. His welcoming demeanor and knowledge of a wide variety of subjects has left a lasting impression on many club members, and has prompted several new members to join. The club is pleased to announce that Wally Frank WA3RWP is the recipient of the 2022 KB4ZIN award.

Traditionally, the KB4ZIN award is presented at the club’s annual dinner. However, with COVID-19 the recipient has been announced at a club meeting via Zoom. This year it made it possible for Wally’s family back in Maryland to join in and see the presentation of the award. Wally’s son Rodney is also a licensed ham, with the call sign KA3OZF.

The other presentation made at the February meeting was an award for Toby KL0SS in recognition for serving as the club’s president the past two years. Toby’s leadership helped keep the club alive while COVID-19 brought the world to a standstill. While some volunteer organizations dwindled or even disappeared during that time, WAARC has grown to more than twice the size as it was before the shutdown. She has mueller the club embrace using Zoom to keep the club going when in-person gatherings were not possible. Most importantly, her emphasis of YL involvement in ham radio has increased the amount of YLs in the club. Several of them have volunteered to run nets, and have even gone on to run for club office. The club is grateful for all that Toby has done over the past two years.