New SLRCFA President

15 Jan 2016 8:00 PM | Marshall Henley

Jonathon Hendrickson is the newly elected president of SLRCFA. We share his letter published in ROTATE here...

“As the new president of SLRCFA I would like to personally thank the former president of SLRCFA, Stan King and Treasurer, Ron Lawson for their many, many years of service to our club. Ron has retired from his position and his famous Ron Dogs will be greatly missed along with much, much more). Stan will continue to serve on the board of directors and I admire his untiring commitment to serving our club. Dennis Chivetta has been elected as SLRCFA’s treasurer and has hit the ground running. Dennis is only the 2nd treasurer in our club’s history (Ron was the treasurer from the beginning). He has done a tremendous job absorbing the task  of treasurer, organizing 30+ years of information into a format that he can understand and share with the club. Treasurer is the most time consuming position on the board and I appreciate him stepping up to the plate.

Safety, fun, and comradery are the reasons all of us join a club like SLRCFA. My intentions as president are to improve all these areas and some more than others. The opening article of Rotate shows the destruction that the flood caused, yes it will cost us to restore the field, but we will be able to incorporate new ideas and make improvements during this restoration  process  and  this  in  turn  should boost accessibility and fellowship between members. Several ideas were discussed at the January board meeting and will be further discussed at the February board meeting. I encourage all members to attend and participate in this process. 

Clubs all over the country have several fun flys and open houses on a monthly basis. Last year, Ken Merrill, our vice president suggested that we incorporate more events like this promoting fun and comradery. I would like to implement this idea. The events do not need to be sanctioned or even run by a contest director. They could be as simple or complex as the organizer would like. It could be open to any AMA member or just our club members. It doesn’t have to be a fund raiser either. However, the burden of organizing these events cannot fall on one individual. We need several members to step forward and each take on one event.

Field improvements (curb appeal and safety), events (fun), and comradery will in turn grow our club. It is common for the general public, our neighbors, and fellow aviation enthusiast to be spectators at our club on any given day.

All too often I see members pass them buy instead of engaging in conversation with our guest. Make it a point to talk to them, they came to our field to watch us fly and already have an interest in our hobby. They are potential new members and friends, greet them and make them feel at home. Put them in touch with one of our introductory pilots (instructors).

Our club averages between 100-115 members each year. Even members that frequent the flying field have never met everybody. If you see someone at the field that you do not recognize, introduce yourself and ask them if they are  a member if you do not see their membership card on their person. (Last year a rule was passed that all members must wear their membership chard when flying. You will notice that your 2016 membership card has a rectangular hole in it near the end. There are clips available to all members free. We will have them available at all meetings and at the field in the brochure holder in the pavilion.) Make it a point to know as many members as possible.

Lastly, I want everybody to know that I am open to all ideas and suggestions. If you have anything to say about anything, speak your mind. I want open communication, constructive, respectful discussion and problem solving. I want to grow this club’s comradery and membership simultaneously.”

Your President and Newsletter Editor Jonathon Hendrickson


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