Page 4 - January February 2016

President’s Car
As I sit here in my study, days before New Year, I hope you have all had a great time with your families over the Christmas period. Now, it is time to wish you all a very happy new year and hopefully one that is filled with achievement in and satisfaction from this great hobby of ours. And I also wish you the good health to enjoy it to the full.
Good health is important to us all and those closest to us because it is due to ill-health that the Winter Meet in Northampton has had to be cancelled. Nobby Clarke is caring for his sister who is quite unwell at the moment so he cannot devote the attention he wants to planning and indeed running the event. Our thoughts are with him, and all of us hope for his sister’s speedy recovery to good health.
It is also a time for New Year’s resolutions – by the time you read this you may well have set yourself many and broken or given up on a few. I know I need to set myself some because there are decorating jobs to do around the house and I have many projects to get on with up in the railroad cabin. Lists! But as I was taught at work if you set yourself objectives they must, at the very least, be realistic and achievable. There is no point in wasting time thinking up plans that will never be implemented. I will not bore you with the decorating jobs but I did have a thought about things I need to do on my layout and within the hobby generally. One key action for the NMRA right now (and you can read more about this in Kathy Millatt’s report elsewhere) is the outline bid by British Region to host the NMRA National Convention here in 2022, through an extremely hard-working and creative group of members led by Kathy. The draft needs to be worked up into a comprehensive and professional proposal to put to the main BOD in July. Yes, I know 2022 is a long way off but . . . if successful in our proposal, it will be the first National Convention this side of the “pond” since 1971 when London was the venue. We will then be looking for all manner of volunteers to offer to help in any number of ways. One thing I have learned so far from this process is what a fabulous Region this is for rich resources in all aspects of our hobby, from the real thing down to individual modellers and their layouts. We will be looking to involve many British modellers in the event as visitors from the USA for example will want to see the very best of British and European modelling, as well as the sights across our beautiful nation.
I received a few responses to my comment last time about lack of replies to e-mails and phone calls to Region officers. It seems I struck a chord. I cannot urge members enough to respond to fellow members in a timely fashion when they get in touch seeking help, assistance, advice or acknowledgement of a request. Silence cannot really be tolerated for too long. I shall be urging all Region officers, not just fellow BOD members, to address these issues to the best of their abilities. If help is needed doing a job, please ask for it – there is no shame in it. You will also be receiving the February issue of the NMRA News this coming month as there are elections in which you can vote. The key one for us is the Atlantic
Mike Arnold
District Director post, for
which there are two
nominations: Kathy
Millatt (for her second
term) and Peter Bowen.
Please exercise your
democratic right and
cast a vote. Rai Fenton
has arranged for elec-
tronic voting as an
option this time, to make
it even easier to vote.
We are also looking at
ways of improving access
to the Achievement Programme. For example, Steve Park had arranged to have a room at the Winter Meet for members to bring models for AP assessment. Unfortunately the meet has been cancelled but we hope to set it up for the Spring and Summer Meets. We are also hoping to trial alternative ways of judging AP submissions from a distance, using more modern technology to assist us. More on all of this next time.
So what will I be doing on a personal level? The layout needs a yard; I must finish putting in a removable board so that fellow members who cannot duck under will not need to in future, to get at the inner sanctum of the layout – the doorway gets rather crowded and none of us is getting any fitter, me included! So that is two clear assignments, one of which is under way. I have another lift-out section installed, but the rails have not been secured and cut yet. Access is key to successful and enjoyable operating.
Then I plan to list various smaller jobs, all to do with scenery and structures, breaking them down into zones on the layout, all manageable areas. For example, I plan to build a safe storage facility in the triangle of tracks between the yard and Dillon. I can also see a grain mill going as well farther in, thus adding another industry to the layout without overcrowding it. I need to finish the corn syrup depot . . . and so on. Bite-sized and achievable. What are you planning to do?
I do hope someone out there is planning to be the next President, as we do not have a Vice President nomination yet for the remainder of this year. Whilst the BOD can work without a VP for a while, it will not be possible to do so without a President when my term is up in October. I beseech all members to consider whether they could stand for either of the posts, now and in the future. It is hard work, there is no denying, but it is immensely satisfying to know that you are influencing the way Region operates and benefits members. We are nothing without our volunteer members, who give a lot to benefit the wider membership. Nothing can happen without others who offer their help. Is it your turn to be inspiring? Can you share your know-how?
I do look forward to seeing some of you at least enquiring about the roles and perhaps being persuaded to put your name forward. Meeting the challenge will be rewarding. More next time, and keep those comments coming in.
4 ROUNDHOUSE