Mr. President (of IPMS/Gateway)

After work this past Tuesday (19 January), I went from work to Affton Elks Lodge 2635 (Elks.org :: Lodge #2635 Home) for this month's IPMS/Gateway (IPMS Gateway Chapter (google.com)) meeting. We had the final 2020 Modeler of the Year Contest, delayed from November, plus nominations and elections for this year's club executive board (e-board). I was one of two nominees for President, and members attending then voted. After jokes about possible voter fraud (alluding to the 2020 US Presidential election), I was announced as the winner. Outgoing President Rick Keasey (who could not run again this year due to term limits) said he would recognize the result and handed the office off to me after this night's meeting.

I previously served as club President a few years ago, but I am honored to be chosen again by my club mates to serve in this role in 2021. We continue to face the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has cut into meeting attendance and model contests around the country, but I am happy to accept the responsibilities of this office. Granted, I will also continue to serve as editor of the club's newsletter (The Arch Scaler News), run the club's public relations and social media efforts, and serve as Region 14 Coordinator for IPMS/USA (IPMS/USA | By Modelers... For Modelers). However, I feel I can handle all these jobs at once.

The meeting Tuesday night also had an interesting presentation by Jim Victor on pre-dreadnought battleships. It was a fine night and hope to see more in the months to come--with more attendees to boot!

Later.

Getting Out the IPMS Gateway Newsletter

Yesterday morning (16 January), I completed work editing this month's issue of The Arch Scaler News, the member newsletter of the Gateway Chapter of the International Plastic Modelers' Society (IPMS Gateway Chapter (google.com)). I usually get this out on a Thursday but delays in getting some content set it back until yesterday. Not having had a meeting last month, due to pandemic-related public gathering restrictions, and not much else in content meant this month's newsletter would be a thin one. Still, I was able to make it work.

After proofreading the copy, I took it to Office Max (Office Depot OfficeMax | Official Online Store) in Mehlville to run off three copies for those members without email access. After printing up the newsletters, and adding mailing address labels, I took the copies over to the United States Postal Service (Welcome | USPS) store at South County Center (South County Center | St. Louis MO (shopsouthcountycenter.com)). There, I bought stamps, which I affixed to the newsletters before putting them in the mail collection slot.

That afternoon, I emailed the newsletter to the rest of the membership, as well as some other parties. The latter include area hobby shops, IPMS/USA (IPMS/USA | By Modelers... For Modelers), and chapters in IPMS/USA Region 14, which includes IPMS/Gateway and for whom I serve as its Region Coordinator.

IPMS/Gateway holds its next meeting this Tuesday night at Affton Elks Lodge 2635 (Elks.org :: Lodge #2635 Home) . They will hold nominations and voting for this year's officers, the final 2020 Modeler of the Year Contest, and a presentation on pre-dreadnought battleships.

Later.