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International Fellowship of Flying Rotarians Americas Region, Vice President Larry Wolfsen |
2013 IFFR Americas AGM
Greetings to all IFFR's As you are aware numerous
IFFR members recently gathered at the AOPA Summit in Fort Worth. As you are
aware IFFR usually "piggy backs" on the AOPA event for a fly in and our Annual
board meeting and Annual General Membership Meeting. This year was no
exception.
This years events
were hosted by South Central Section chair Jack Welge from Longview, Texas. He
is to be congratulated for an outstanding event. He with able help from past
World President Tony Watson (also
a Texan) and many others put on an event that will be long remembered by all who
attended. I can not say enough to adequately thank Jack and his entire committee
for such an outstanding event. A few of the details are as follows.
Jack and some of his committee began
arriving in Fort Worth Wednesday, October 9 and set up the IFFR booth which was
manned for the entire Thursday through Saturday event. Most members arrived
Thursday and began volunteering at the booth the same day. Through the booth we
spread the word about IFFR to any who would listen. Several members including
World President Michael Graves donated their time to man the booth, however
special thanks go to World Secretary Lynn Miller (also a Texan) who spent almost
the entire time at the booth. As a result of her efforts and the other
volunteers we signed up TEN NEW MEMBERS. A huge thank you to all involved.
Most members went "out on the town"
together Thursday evening and dined at P.F. Changs. Shirley More was kind enough
to order Chinese dinner for all of us and we dined family style. Good times and
great fellowship.
Friday morning the Board of Directors
met and their deliberations will be covered in the General Membership meeting of
this report.
Friday luncheon was open to all
members and guest and was well attended. All were treated to a South West style
fajita buffet which was delicious.
After lunch the Americas Annual
General Meeting was called to order and all members introduced themselves.
Americas Secretary/Treasured Steve Henderson presented a financial and
membership report. Webmasters report was given by PWP Peter More. Safety
Committee Report was presented by Jack Welge. Section Reports were received or
presented by NW Bev Fogle, NC Mark Hagen, SW George Chaffey, SC Jack Welge, SE
Dale Read. During New Business the following items presented and discussed.
Sintra Memorial participation.
Several years ago following a R.I. convention on a IFFR fly out there was a
tragic accident in Portugal wherein several four members lost their lives
including one from the U.S. A memorial was erected near the crash site, however
it was soon vandalized. Recently the U.K. Region in cooperation with the
Australian Region moved the memorial to a
more secure site and refurbished it. The U.S. Region was ask to participate in
the cost of the move and refurbishment. The board
of directors and the general membership voted to approve our share of the cost
the Sec/Tres. was instructed to forward
the funds to the U.K. Region who had
paid our share.
Americas Sec/Tres Steve Henderson
reported we had accumulated funds enough in our treasury to allow for the
funding of
acclivities beyond normal needs.
After much discussion it was agreed to use some of the funds towards
AOPA has announce
that they will no longer be holding their Summit conference annually. IFFR,
therefor, will no longer be able to "piggy back" on their annual gathering. They
will be holding smaller regional gatherings during the year but details
World President
Michael Graves gave a short presentation on the upcoming R.I. Convention in
Australia where the next World
Our scheduled
speaker Leah Yeager: Senior Investigator for the NTSB was not able to attend due
to the Government Sequester. World President Michael Graves admirably filled in
with a very interesting talk on high altitude and distance record flights in
sail planes he has accomplished. Many thanks to Michael for such a enlightening
talk on such short notice. A truly "can do" attitude exemplified in most IFFR
pilots.
Friday night found most of us at the
renovated Forth Worth Stock Yards for a Western bar-b-que where once again
camaraderie and fellowship ruled the night.
Some members departed Saturday while
some stayed and manned the booth "to the bitter end". It was a day of heavy
attendance and we got several new members. Again many thanks to those who
volunteered their time to spread the word about IFFR.
Finally I would be remiss if I did
not again thank South Central Section chair Jack Welge and his committee for the
many hours of work and planning that went into hosting such a successful event.
Following the Fort Worth event a fly
in to Fredericksburg Texas was held with several members participating. You can
view details of this on our web site IFFRAmericas.org. Please visit the site
often to see what your fellow members have been up to and especially what is
coming up in all the Americas sections. Join in and enjoy the activities and
fellowship with great people, IFFR members.
Tail Winds To You,
Larry Wolfsen VP. Americas