In this issue you will find:
- HQ news up front - celebrating volunteer milestones
- Frequency Chart update
- Avery' QTH: Disability can be a capability
- Free Online Workshop on Electronic Braille Books
- Open General - study quick!
- Worldradio & QST digests for June are ready
- Elmer: Say yes to ARRL Field Day
- Eat like a radio camper, Yum, Yum.
Greetings from Handiham headquarters!
Photo: Handiham volunteer Will Tice, KC0LJL, wearing is cap & gown from high school graduation, and proud dad Pat, WA0TDA.
Some of our headquarters news needed to be put up front this week, because it is such a busy time of the year... Dayton is fun, but always sets me back a bit in office work. As anyone who works at a job knows all too well, the work tends to stack up when you take a few days away from your usual work routine.
- I want to apologize for not getting a weekly Education email out, and for not getting any new audio lectures ready. This takes time, and I just didn't have enough of it! However, there will be new audio lectures tomorrow, Thursday May 31, 2007.
- Pardon me for tooting my own horn as a proud papa, but congratulations are due to my son Will, KC0LJL, a Handiham volunteer, who graduated from high school last Friday. We are especially proud of his magna cum laude status and his achievement award in honors physics. He has received scholarships to attend St. John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota, where he plans to pursue a combined major in math and computer science. St. John's University is the birthplace of Minnesota Public Radio and even sports part of the "Lake Wobegon Trail" on campus. Will's duties have included tape duplication, DVD duplication, washing dishes at Radio Camp, and currently website Flash development. We are so proud of Will... and we are so grateful to him and all of our volunteers who make Handiham services possible.
Speaking of volunteers, Phil Temples, K9HI, a Radio Camp instructor and the computer professional who maintains our website, has received special recognition in the 2007 Community Service Award from his employer, Boston College, for his caring spirit in volunteer service to the Courage Handiham System. With Phil's help we have turned the Handiham website from a homemade-looking second-rate effort to a first-class web resource for Handiham members that delivers online audio and current ham radio and assistive technology news and features. Phil's focus areas at Radio Camp include advising the Handiham Radio Club and planning and management of public service and EMCOMM training. He has served as the Eastern Massachusetts Section Manager in past years, and now serves as ARRL Affiliated Club Coordinator in that Section.
Photo: Phil Temples, K9HI, operates W1AW. Phil was honored this month by Boston College for his volunteerism with Courage Center's Handiham System.
Congratulations, Phil!
- Handiham Student Coordinator Jerry Kloss, N0VOE, celebrates a milestone this week when he celebrates his 70th birthday. Attaboy, Jerry!
Photo: Jerry Kloss, N0VOE, and his Guide Dog Trawler pose for the camera in the office at Courage Center.
Jerry's duties include welcoming new members to the Handiham System and helping them with their first studies in amateur radio. Often times Jerry discovers that the new Handiham member does not know about resources that could help them with their reading, computer access, or mobility in other areas of life. Amazingly, people come to us for information about amateur radio and also learn about the Library of Congress National Library Service accessible audio, screen reading computers, state services for the blind, and service dogs, as well as other services available to people with mobility impairments, the deaf community, or people who cannot speak.
Jerry's friendly, welcoming manner puts newcomers at their ease and helps them become part of the ham radio community. He learned patience and good telephone skills while spending most of his working life at the Minnesota Department of Transportation. Jerry recalls, "One person would call in to complain that we didn't put enough salt on the road to clear off the ice, and the next one would call in to tell us that there was too much salt on the roadway and that it was rusting his car".
So you can see that Jerry's job at MNDOT required good listening skills, problem solving, and plenty of diplomacy! All of these have turned out to be perfect assets for success in his "retirement job" at Courage Center's Handiham System. We are so lucky to have a nice guy like Jerry working for us. Best of all, 70 birthdays have not slowed Jerry down at all. Happy birthday, Jerry!
Patrick Tice, WA0TDA
Handiham Manager
wa0tda@arrl.net
