District II—New Jersey, New York, Europe
Eric Williams
Vice President
rcpilot@nycap.rr.com
4242 Amanda Ln., Schenectady NY 12303
Tel.: (518) 356-2057
www.amadistrict-ii.org
www.facebook.com/DistrictIIAMA
Community outreach and participation in community events are among the keys to club growth and public relations. I received the following from Richard Bombardier, club president of the Pine Barren Modelers RC Club of Barnegat, New Jersey. The story speaks for itself.
On September 12, 2015, the Pine Barren Modelers RC Club participated in the local Berkeley, New Jersey, Township Pride Day. The Berkeley Township Pride Day is an annual event for local organizations to promote their services to residents of the town. Our club decided to participate in this year’s event by setting up a static display of various RC aircraft,
The simulator setup and aircraft display at the Berkeley Township Pride Day.
helicopters, and quadcopters, hoping to garner interest and acquire new members. We also had a Phoenix flight simulator set up so that interested people could try it out and see what it’s all about. I must say, our booths had a lot of traffic because of the aircraft on display. We even had two people want to join that day!
The club had a HobbyZone Sport Cub to raffle off to the public. We thought this would be a perfect starter for someone who wanted to get into the hobby; it’s ready to fly and has SAFE technology. A nice young boy was the Cub’s lucky winner and actually might join the club. Not only did we have a happy winner, the club made a $60 profit to go toward our field upkeep.
We had another community function on September 24, at the Pumpers and Pistons Automobile and Fire Apparatus Show located in Ship Bottom, New Jersey. This was the second annual classic car and local fire equipment show. Again, we had a static display
The Pride Day Sport Cub raffle winner.
set up along with the Phoenix flight simulator. It was another huge success. The club raffled off another HobbyZone Sport Cub and made another young boy happy! The club also acquired a few more potential members from this show. This was a perfect opportunity to reach out to the communities and get our name and our hobby out there. A lot of conversation dealt with drones, and we were able to discuss this and let them know that we belong to a national organization, the AMA, and it’s all about promoting safety! Based on the success of both of these functions, we will make them annual events for our club. It’s something that other clubs should look into and consider being part of.
Congratulations to the Pine Barren Modelers RC Club for participating in two community events and proving that these gatherings pay dividends! Remember, it’s not about what you fly, it’s about the people and the friends you make.
The Pine Barren Modelers at the Berkeley Pride Day.
The Pine Barren Modelers set up for the Pumpers and Pistons show.
