January 18, 2014 - Meeting Summary
The San Diego S Gaugers held the January club meeting in our clubhouse in Liberty Station. Attendees were: Mike Forys, Bob Graves, Ken Sadlock, Dale Minard, Alex Sibbald, Al Kiel and Oakley Warren.
Show and Tell:
Mike Forys displayed progress on his Toboggan Run Insert for the Liberty Loop Window Layout. Dale displayed his recently acquired assortment of beavers for the beaver pond under construction.
Election of Officers:
The yearly election of officers was held today. Oakley Warren nominated the current officers. Al Kiel seconded nomination and the vote was unanimous. Current officers agreed to carry on in their respective positions; they are:
President - Mike Forys
Treasurer - Bob Graves
Standards - Raulf Polichar
Secretary - Alex Sibbald
Dale Minard accepted the Publicity job for 2014.
President’s Annual Report:
Mike Forys presented his annual report for 2013. He listed the club’s many achievements during the year including representing NASG at WGH, displaying our layout at 3 different venues, upgrading our modules with pin and socket alignment system, the selection of our layout for a Qualcomm commercial and the progress made on the roundhouse addition. He also addressed goals and possibilities for the upcoming year. The complete text of the report appears below.
Treasurer’s Report:
Bob Graves reported that we took in $48.00 in clubhouse donations and $18.10 in show donations during December.
He summarized the yearly financial report. It was a good year financially as we were able to pay our expenses, expand our layout and still show a profit.
Publicity Report:
Dale Minard is working on a brochure for the NMRA Layout Tours.
Old Business:
PY2.0:
The track 7 turnout switch motor is ready for mounting.
PY2.5
This module still needs switch control motor and clouds. (on-hold)
Lift bridge module:
The lift bridge module has been stabilized with supports on the legs. We will be monitoring the module for results. Plans for additional reinforcement during transportation are in the works.
Window Layout:
Our activity counter has recorded a total of 1,164 hits in the last month. Now into the 20th month of counter operation, the counter has recorded 20,835 pushes on the Liberty Loop button. The terrain has been finalized on the waterfall area and the lakes are being constructed.
Roundhouse Addition:
This addition requires track work completion and switches. The ground has been colored and ballasting will commence as track work is completed.
Twin Lakes Module:
Dale Minard has constructed a beaver lodge and obtained beavers to create a beaver pond on this module.
Donated Trains:
Bob Graves reported that the sale of donated items brought in $31.99 in December.
New Business:
Liability Insurance:
The club has renewed our low-cost liability insurance made possible by maintaining our 100% NMRA membership again this year.
Clubhouse Additions:
The Lego Museum will be providing us with a Valentine Themed Insert for the Liberty Loop Layout. The club has purchased a new Docksider and caboose already in use on our popular window layout.
Decorating the test module:
We plan to decorate the yet unadorned test module with a lift off display as was done on the Air Museum module. The theme discussed was a street lined with small storefront buildings as would be found in an old rural town. Target date for completion is December in time for the GTE.
Future events:
The next monthly meeting of 2014 will be held on Saturday, Feb 22, 2014, at 2:00pm. Our next Open House will be held on Saturday, March 1st from 11AM to 4PM.
Labor Day Weekend:
Due to a conflict in our scheduling, the club voted not to take the layout to the San Diego Model Railroad Museum this Labor Day Weekend. We have committed to be on the layout tour for the NMRA Convention the week before the Labor Day Weekend. Mike Forys will discuss possible alternative dates with the museum.
Meeting was adjourned at 3:40PM.
January 18th, 2014
President's annual report
2013 started off with a bang with the World’s greatest hobby show and responsibility not only for our layout but also for the NASG booth.
2013 brought new modules, improved modules, four open houses, and travel to three events.
The Junior engineer badge continues to be a huge success with the younger crowd. We started handing out paper models for kids to assemble and had a scavenger hunt. The kids who participated did a very good job at filling out their forms.
We continued having engine repair and maintenance clinics.
The Liberty Loop RR has been a great success. The addition of the Up the Creek building, the lower lake and overlooking mesa continues to lead us in the right direction to have a great window layout. We surpassed the 20,000 mark on button pushing. The goal for 2014 is to get the scenery on the mountain end complete.
The open house on National Train Day was a success that should be repeated.
In 2013, we added a stand alone publicity position ably handled by Dale Minard.
I see 2014 as a year to grow and complete. Complete all the stagnated tasks we have started. Grow the club in members, modules and recognition. Add new clinics and activities.
We added several new members last year and hopefully we can add a similar amount this year.
We will be open for NMRA PSR monthly open house in June, the PSR convention layout tour in September and our four regular open houses.
Recent talk around the club for adding modules to make an L shaped or U shaped layout has me dreaming about the possibilities. Our club house limits us to what we can do on an everyday basis, but not at shows.
So, as we begin 2014, let all of us resolve to complete Liberty Loop RR, our existing modules, recruit new members, and dream the dream of a fabulous yet to be named layout, that we can be proud to show off anywhere and anytime.
Respectfully submitted,
Mike Forys
President, San Diego S-Gaugers
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