Executive Director
View from HQ
"I believe you will be impressed ..."
I was just returning from a work/vacation in Virginia when suddenly it dawned on me that it was Nats time! Where has the spring gone?
This past week (June 6–10) Muncie hosted the Scale Team Selection. Members of the team are:
Control Line
- Steve Ashby
- Jack Sheeks
- Ralph Burnstine
Alternate: Dale Campbell
Radio Control
- Ramon Torres
- Wayne Frederick
- Al Kretz
Alternate: Bob Benjamin
The world championships will be held in South Africa in 1998. Let's wish these individuals a huge success.
Competitions and the Maintenance Department have been working very hard on getting the site and contestant information ready for the 1997 Nats.
For those of you who were here last year and are returning, you will notice that we finally had two roads constructed so that now you can reach any part of the property without leaving the site. Just come through the main gate (and hopefully stop by the Museum) and either take the asphalt road to the Pavilion and Event Headquarters or the gravel road to the other sites.
Other improvements are the new parking lot at Stage Center and the handicap ramp at Event HQ.
At the time of this writing, entries for the Nationals are down by about 100 contestants, with Pylon taking the largest hit. We are hoping that people are just waiting until the last minute to sign up.
Lots of work and volunteer help is needed to put on a successful Nats, and the amount of work involved is almost the same whether you have 500 contestants or 1,000. Members who have been to the Muncie site indicate that it is a first-class place to fly.
It is our hope that at some point every AMA member will take the time to visit the National Headquarters, whether to fly or just enjoy the Museum. Improvements and new items are constantly being added to the Museum and the Museum store. I believe you will be impressed.
Third Renewal Notice
Through phone calls and letters it appears that we did not do a very good job of explaining ourselves on the third renewal notice; I apologize. It becomes difficult to know how much information is too little or too much and fit it on the form. Also, when you work with this stuff on a day-to-day basis you sometimes can't see the forest for the trees. We will try to do better.
As a matter of fact, we have an intern working with us from Ball State who will be taking a look at our forms and updating them. It is nice to have someone from the outside take a fresh look and see if they can understand the message we are trying to put across. It is so easy to assume that everyone is on the same page.
I do want to make it perfectly clear that there was no dues increase. We created an incentive for members to rejoin.
If you take advantage of this "special offer" you receive the balance of '97 and all of '98 for one price. This price is half the cost of '97 added to the full cost of '98.
Some of you may say that this is not a savings, but it is. Normally for a renewal, no matter when you join, you would pay full price for that membership year—no reduced rate.
For a little over 13 cents a day, your Association offers many benefits. If you are not sure what they are, drop me a line or send me an email message and I will send you the information.
If there are programs you would like to see your association offer, contact your local Vice President (address in the magazine) with your suggestions. We are always looking for ways to assist the membership.
Another interesting thing just happened today: the Postal Service returned several membership renewals, with checks, that had a postmark date of December 10. They explained that the mailing service they used to help sort mail missed some pieces; they apologized for the inconvenience. I know that sometimes our members feel that we are passing the buck, and that it is easy for us to blame the post office for delivery mistakes, but it does happen.
Leader Member Questionnaire
I would like to say thank you to all of those members who have returned the Leader Member questionnaire. If you have not done so, you still have time; the deadline for return is August 30. If you did not receive a questionnaire, just call the 800 number and one will be mailed. Please take the time to give us positive input.
Happy flying,
Joyce Hager Executive Director
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
