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Announcement from Region 9 Coordinator Chris Bucholtz
May 01, 2009
Kickoff Classic Achieves New Levels of Success
If you thought this year's Kickoff Classic was big, you'd be right! Over 550 models were entered and 152 entrants competed; best of show went to interloper Jim Wechsler, who came up from southern California with his Canadian Armed Forces LAV. (Jim took best of show at the 2007 Nationals, so he's no slouch, but the gauntlet has been thrown down and it's up to northern California to go down and reclaim our honor!) Also present at the show was Jim Lund's remarkable 122-model collection of seaplanes; between Jim's collection, the entries in collections and the entries in the regular categories, plus the models on the display-only tables, we had nearly 900 models at this year's show!
Next year's date will likely be a little earlier, in March - probably about three weeks after the Santa Rosa Model Expo. So, obviously, 2010 is going to start out with a bang!
Congratulations, IPMS/Dragon Lady - Region 9 Chapter of the Year (Again)
The Yuba City team made it two in the row with another remarkable year of accomplishments. They'll again hold the Hugh Silvis Award until next year, and most deservedly so. They're now in contention for the National Chapter of the Year Award, and I think they are poised to bring that hardware home, too. A big congratulations to Don Terbush, Harold Osburn and the rest of the club's members.
Hey, how can my club get that award?
I'm glad you asked! IPMS/Dragon Lady doesn't necessarily have to three-peat - your club might just out-do them this year. How, you say - we're in San Jose or Fresno and we couldn't possibly compete with a big place like Yuba City! Wait a minute...
Anyhow, our system is designed to even out club size or the size of a metropolitan area and make the award solely about how well a club promotes the hobby of scale modeling. Chapter contacts, your job is to put your bid together and get it to me by Feb. 15, 2010. You've got a while - start noting things you club does to score points and then list what your club did in 2009, accrue the points to that list as seen below, and send it my way. Once I have the bids, the hardest working club, regardless of its size, wins! Here's how we score it:
1. Host a contest: four points.
2. Organize a public display: two points
3. Conduct a make-and-take: two points
4. Organize a charitable event (model drive, benefit, etc.): three points
5. Host a guest speaker: one point
6. Publish a monthly newsletter: 3 points
7. Produce a website: 3 points
8. Re-charter before Dec. 1: 5 points
9. Re-charter before Jan. 1: 3 points
10. Have a member gain R9 Qualified Judging Status: 1 point per member
Again, for the 2009 award, chapter contacts must track their club's performances and report their results to me no later than Feb. 15, 2010. Anything submitted after that date will be disregarded and disqualified. Also, you can't win if you don't bid; I can't add up what your club does, because I can't be part of all the things your club does. The reporting year goes from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31. The winning club's name is inscribed in perpetuity on the Hugh Silvas Region 9 Chapter of the Year Award. Winners then get a chance at the IPMS National Chapter of the Year award.
Oh, How Appropriate - Region 9 Chapter of the Year hosts the Regional
Our next big contest in the region isn't until July 25, when IPMS/Dragon Lady hosts the Regional in Yuba City. I always assume that this club pulls out all the stops, and then the next year more stops are pulled out, it seems! This year has a new venue and a bigger category list, plus other surprises. I can't wait, frankly!
Tradition holds that other clubs in the Region sponsor award packages at the regional; this year, packages are just $35, so consider sponsoring a couple! Go directly to the source, Harold Osburn, at h_osburn@sbcglobal.net to get the full information.
Also, I'll again help the organizers by rounding up volunteer judges for this show; if you want to get ahead of my efforts, e-mail me and I'll happily put you on the list. Judging is easy when you have plenty of volunteers, so do your part and make the day more enjoyable for yourself and your fellow judges by volunteering.
IPMS Elections coming up - Vote!
The IPMS is electing a new slate of officers over the next few months; the ballots will be in your Journals, as will candidate statements. This year, the candidates will also explain their ideas on the IPMS/USA discussion forums (at www.ipmsusa.org), so we'll have an unprecedented opportunity to weigh their ideas and cast our votes based on knowledge. So vote! It will be important to shape the future of our society.
There's also a change to our constitution and by-laws that the membership needs to vote on. Whether you vote yes or no, your vote is important; without reaching a certain threshold, the vote becomes unofficial. Your vote can help make sure this change happens - or doesn't happen - as a result of the will of the membership, not as a result of collective apathy.
Help IPMS/USA Membership - Bring Your Journal to the Meeting
I've heard people comment that new members are joining because they like the Journal. The Journal's but the tip of the iceberg for IPMS membership, but if it gets people involved so that they see the other aspects of membership, then so much the better! Try putting the new issue of the Journal on the show-and-tell table, or pass it around at your chapter meetings; showing off the great work our members do may help get some of your not-yet-IPMS/USA-members to take the plunge.
Contest Calendar
Here's what's coming up:
June 6, 2009: IPMS/San Diego hosts San Diego Model Expo 09, the Region 8 Regional, at the San Diego Air and Space Museum, Gillespie Field, 335 Kenney Street in San Diego, California. For more information, contact Gary Williams at gnswilliams@hotmail.com, or visit the club website at www.ipmssd.org.
June 20, 2009: the North Olympic Peninsula Modelers' Society presents the Peninsula Model Show and Contest 2009 at Fort Worden State Park, Building 204, Port Townsend, Washington. For more information, contact Larry Speelman at larry234@olympen.com, or visit the club website at www.nopms.net.
June 20, 2009: IPMS/Ontario hosts the Ontario IPMS Mini-Con 2009 at the Ontario Senior Center, 225 E. "B" Street, Ontario, California. For more details, contact Farlan Clutters at fclutters@ontariopolice.org, or visit the club website at www.ipms-ontario.org.
July 25, 2009: IPMS/Dragon Lady hosts the 2009 IPMS Region 9 Contest at the First United Methodist Church, 3101 Colusa Highway in Yuba City, California. For more information, contact Harold Osburn at h_osburn@sbcglobal.net, or visit the club website at www.myspace.com/impsdragonlady.
August 9, 2009: The San Diego Model Car Club hosts the Lower Left Coast NNL at Al Bahr Shrine Auditorium, 5440 Kearny Mesa Road in San Diego, California. For more information, contact Darryl Gassaway at llc-nnl@cox.net.
September 12, 2009: The Reno High Rollers present their annual event at Desert Heights Elementary School, 13948 Mt. Bismark in Reno, Nevada. For more details, contact Doug Summers at ghpltd@aol.com or visit the club website at http://renohighrollers.com.
October 17, 2009: The Fremont Hornets host Tri-City Classic VI at the Newark Community Center, 35501 Cedar Boulevard, Newark California. This year's theme is "From Russia With Love." For more information, contact Lou Orselli at daze61283@mypacks.net.
October 17, 2009: IPMS/Orange County presents OrangeCon 2009 at the Conference Center at 800 North State College Boulevard on the campus of California State University, Fullerton. For more details, contact Nat Richards at ocipms@aol.com, or visit the club website at www.ipmsoc.org.
February 20, 2010: The Santa Rosa and IPMS/Diablo Valley host Hobby Expo 2010 at the Petaluma Community Center, 320 North McDowell Boulevard. For more details, contact John Admire at admire@pacbell.net, or visit the club website at www.ipmssantarosa.org.
So what's everyone working on now? I have a Mustang, a Thunderbolt and a Warhawk in the works; I hope someone out there has something more exotic...!
--Chris
One more item I left out: The next Northern California Friends of the Aces event is on May 17 at the Hiller Aviation Museum in Belmont. This time, it focuses on P-47 aces.
The aces scheduled for the panel (and their most notable aicraft) are:
Capt. Bob Booth, 369th FS, 359th FG (8 victories, P-47D 42-8695 IV-F "Oily Boid")
Capt. Richard Fleischer, 348th FG (6 victories)
Lt. Frank McCauley, 61st FS, 56th FG(5.5 victories, P-47C 41-6271 HV-Z "Rat Racer")
BGen. Les Smith, 61st FS, 56th FG (7 victories, P-47D 42-26044 HV-Z "Silver Lady")
LtCol. David Thwaites, 361st FS, 356th FG (6 victories P-47D 42-26457 QI-L "Polly")
It would be neat to get together a display of P-47 aces' aircraft for this event; I already have Morton Magoffin's "Carol Ann II" and Bill Dunham's "Bonnie," and I'm sure someone in our region has "Silver Lady," which is a natural metal razorback. If you'd like to participate in this event, and spread the news about scale modeling while also getting a chance to meet some real heroes and history makers, let me know; if there is suitable interest, I can work with the friends of the aces to get a table set up and make a display happen.
For more information on the symposium, e-mail ncf@hot-shot.com and tell them Chris sent you!
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