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
On Saturday, November 5, 2016, the Flying Dutchmen of Rotterdam, New York, held the club’s inaugural swap meet and auction at St. Gabriel’s Church. The gathering was well attended and virtually all 60 tables were sold out.
The Dutchmen realized that several factors were critical in holding a successful event, and the club ensured that all of the bases were covered. Important areas included having a climate-controlled building, convenient and ample parking, food concessions, a well-organized table layout, close proximity to a major highway, and perhaps most important, plenty of advance publicity and promotion.
Based on the good reputation of modelers who fly indoors at St. Gabriel’s Church twice a week, the church was eager to work with the club to host the swap meet. The event was publicized on various websites, and was an AMA-sanctioned event with a listing in Model Aviation’s “Sanctioned Event Calendar.” The club distributed a flyer and business cards at fly-ins, swap meets, and other key locations leading up to the date.
Food is an integral part of any modeling event, and the club arranged for the church’s “Breakfast Club” to serve an array of breakfast and lunch items. The event was a great success and the club has already set a date of November 4, 2017, to hold its second swap meet. Based on the inaugural success, it will be a sellout.
On November 19, 2016, I made the annual trek to Walt’s Hobbies’ Secret Santa Sale in Syracuse, New York. The event is not just a sale, but an opportunity for area clubs to promote themselves and for modelers to meet in addition to getting in some fun indoor flying.
This year, I had the honor of presenting the Syracuse Thunderbirds Aero Radio Society (STARS) with a 10-year Gold Leader Club award during the event. Other District II clubs that received multiyear awards include the Wawayanda Flying Club, the Electric Powered Aeromodelers, the Edgewood Flyers Incorporated, the Mid-Hudson Radio Control Society, and the North County Flying Tigers Model Aircraft Club. All received five-year awards. The Aero Radio Club of Syracuse and the STARS received 10-year awards, and the Oneonta RC Flyers and the Finger Lakes Air Pirates received 15-year awards.
To be a Gold Leader Club is a significant achievement, and a multiyear award is a major accomplishment! Congratulations to these clubs and others on their Leader Club awards. Check out the AMA Leader Club Program at: www.modelaircraft.org/membership/clubs/leaderclubs.aspx.
Remember, it’s not about what you fly, it’s about the people and the friends you make.
Associate Vice Presidents: Dennis Andreas, Freeport NY; (516) 379-0135; danandreasdghsd@juno.com; Fred Backhaus, Medford NY; (631) 289-6964; motoderf@optonline.net; Reid Condon, Greenville NY; (518) 966-8329; rcaairforce@live.com; Chuck Davis, Sayville NY; (631) 589-7690; arcdavis@verizon.com; Gene Gavin, Staten Island NY; (718) 967-0598; Gavin1957@aol.com; Jon Gerber, Staten Island NY; (718) 984-5013; taxman846@aol.com. Frank Granelli, Rockaway NJ; (973) 625-4995; granellif@aol.com; Bill Hauth, Hamburg NY; (716) 649-8582; toolmkr2000@msn.com; Thomas Murray, Basking Ridge NJ; (908) 766-5656; Anthony Rossi, Somerset NJ; (917) 320-2665; p510851@gmail.com; Joe Sarbello, Woolwich Township NJ; (856) 491-8481; donnajoe244@msn.com; Peter Seiffert, Baldwinsville NY; (315) 635-6370; pseiffe2@gmail.com; Leonard Max Smart, Morrisonville NY; (518) 563-6878; hotrodsbymax@charter.net; Alexander Szemere, Kendall Park NJ; (732) 821-5641; drszemere@aol.com. CL/FF Sanctioned Event Coordinator/AVP: David King, South Plainfield, NJ; (732) 672-1783; clmodelpilot@comcast.net. Safety Coordinator/RC Sanctioned Event Coordinator/AVP: Al Kanser, New Lisbon NY; (607) 293-7974; akanser@hughes.net. Webmaster: Chuck Levine, webmaster@amadistrictii.org.
