Author: Deb KK7DEB

The October 22nd meeting will on the air at MC1 (146.840). We will be practicing written voice traffic, so have your blank ICS213 and NTS radiogram forms close by to copy along.

Our sincere thanks again to our loyal and supportive members for a very successful “Donation Extravaganza”. All the prizes have been delivered to the winners and we raised about $1200. We are definitely planning a hotdog and burger get together as soon as this damnable COVID-19 gets out of here.

The next exercise is the Red, White, and Blue Mobile Chip Trip on Saturday, October 17, and the weather is looking good for that day. We look forward to seeing our masked members in person one more time this year. The ARES trailer will be at the Echo team location and Adam will give a tour of its newest upgrades. The prize for the most points has changed will be a $25 Visa gift card. Good luck to everyone!

We logged 158 volunteer hours in August, and currently have 111 active members.

The September 24 meeting will be online using Webex. We will be drawing for the prizes for the “Donation Extravaganza” and Carrie K7CAC will be presenting “Keeping cool during an emergency.” A link to the Webex meeting will be sent the week of the meeting.

The annual MCARES Donation Extravaganza has launched and so far many of you have donated for a chance to win some really great prizes. The ticket sales have been beyond our expectations and we cannot thank our members enough for their faithful support.

As if COVID-19 were not enough to worry about, now we are buried in a thick layer of smoke from the wildfires. Our hearts go out to the many fellow Oregonians who have lost their homes or have been evacuated out of harm’s way.

The next exercise is the Red, White, and Blue Chip Trip on Saturday September 19. We are watching the weather and smoke situation carefully to make sure this can be a safe outdoor exercise. We will let everyone know if there is a need to postpone until a later date.

Saturday October 3 is the Fall statewide ARES SET (Simulated Emergency Test). The drill writing team is busy working on details. Please save the date!

The August 27th meeting will be online using Webex. Adam will be hosting a Field Station Video Webinar showing and talking about various field station setups. A link to Webex will be sent the week of the meeting.

The annual MCARES Raffle Donation extravaganza has launched and so far many of you have donated for a chance to win some really great prizes. This fundraising will help us outfit the newest trailer addition. The “Spartan” will be a much more modest build than the other MCARES mobile communications trailer – as fancy but just as capable! Your donations are very much appreciated by the leadership team.

The July mobile exercise, GPS Food drive-drive, was so much fun! We had 35 members participate and 314 items of food donated to the Snow Cap charities food pantry. Snow Cap was very appreciative and asked that we relay the message to all of our members. Look for pictures in this newsletter. Thanks to everyone who helped make this event such a success.

The next exercise will also be mobile; stay tuned for more details about the September 19 (tentative date) event.

Echo Team welcomes our newest members: David KI7TTS and Chris N7TTD. Our active membership count is now 111.

Our July 23 ARES meeting will be on the air on 146.840- (MC1). Adam KF7LJH will be leading an SSTV practice exercise. Information on how to set up on your phone or a SignaLink will be sent prior to July 23. We are asking for you to check in via Winlink on the Winlink check in template form. More details will be sent prior to the date.

Be sure you have Saturday July 18 on your calendar for the mobile ARES exercise, “GPS Food Drive – Drive”. This should be a fun one and will get you out of the house and traveling to various checkpoints. Your food donations will go to those who need help feeding their families. You should already have the drill guide in your email. If not, send an email to leadership [at] multnomahares [dot] org and we can send you a copy. You will not want to miss this as we have several surprises for you along your way through the course.

The MCARES annual “Raffle” is coming soon! There are some great items this year. We have figured out a way to do this even though we are not currently meeting in person. Look for an email later in July. This year the raffle is raising funds to equip and build the “Spartan” trailer project.  

We all really miss getting together in person and hope this COVID pandemic will get stamped out at some point. Stay safe!

We clocked 237 volunteer hours during the month of June, and we’re currently standing great with 108 active members!

Our June 25 ARES meeting will be online using Webex. Nate NA7EE will be talking about field stations. We hope you will join at 7:00PM. A link will be sent prior to the meeting, so watch your email.

The May and June Winlink drills from home were a great success. We appreciate our members who have participated and honed their skills. Remember to open your Winlink application every month to get the latest updates. Mark Saturday, July 18 on your calendars for the mobile ARES exercise. This should be a fun one and will get you out of the house and traveling to various checkpoints. I think we are all ready to get out of the house for a while! Watch your email for more details.

For the month of May, we had 272 volunteer hours. We currently have 109 active members. Also, Eric N9WJQ has rejoined the Bravo team. Welcome back, Eric!

I would like to welcome two new members: Walt KJ7BHL and Dave N7DML. Walt is on the Alpha team, and Dave is on the Charlie Team. We now have 111 active members, and we logged 173 volunteer hours in April.