2005 April Meetingby Jim Smith

44 Members in attendance

AT THE MEMBERSHIP MEETING

April 19, 2005

By Jim Smith

Commodore, Paul Olsen called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM
Commodore asked new members and guests to introduce themselves. John Kenney introduced himself. He became aware of the club at Hub Hobby.
Commodore mentioned that members were needed to coordinate refreshments for the Parade. Donuts, pop, coffee, etc. must be purchased. Kaletta, Johnson,L, and Kirihara volunteered.
John Bishop is managing the show with the city. He is in contact with Stacey in Tom Shirley’s office. The plan is for the same table set-up as last year. Centrum doors should be open by 8:00AM for early birds. Official set-up will commence at 9:00AM. John has also been in contact with Barb, the McDonalds manager. McDonalds will supply members with meal coupons again this year. Barb told John that they must triple staff the restaurant during our show to accommodate the crowd.
John reported that the Centrum Building has already been reserved for the Parade of Boats in 2006 (June 11) and 2007 (June 10). Mark your calendars!
Dave Bros asked for projects underway for the Builder’s Table at the Parade. He wants examples of fiberglass, foam, plank on frame and other construction methods for display. Please call him if you think your project will fill a niche.
Terry Splettstoeszer will operate a burning- smoking houseboat this year. It seems that his burning PT boat is no longer up to the task.
George Pfeifer has donated his last "center section" of the sinking freighter so we will have at least one more episode of the "crying little kid!"
The Spina Bifida show is shaping up for June 28th. The organization expects in the neighborhood of 500 people to attend our static show and operating session. Please make an effort to attend, even though it comes right on the heels of the Parade of Boats.

Kirk Brust giving his presentation

There was a short discussion of the "Best-in-Show" award that was mentioned at the last meeting. The general opinion was to forget about it… at least, for this year.
Alex Raupp responded to a request for a Parade announcer. He will handle the microphone.
Dale Johnson requested members to deliver Parade color posters and flyers to area hobby shops. Most local shops were covered by volunteers.
Jim Smith asked if there was going to be a "for sale" table this year. The answer was "yes!" Smith and Splettstoeszer will handle those duties.
Fred Ferris requested that we have a good supply of the schedule of events printed up for the Parade. Those sheets are very popular with visitors.

Tom Weigel had club burgees available for purchase

Dale Johnson requested help with the monthly newsletter. Although he would like to see improvements in the letter, he stated that he does not have the time to perform all the functions necessary to do that alone. Dale would like to have editors for sail, scale, fast electric, builder’s corner, etc., who could assemble articles and forward them to him…ready to print. Dale would like two, three or more members with a “strong respect for deadlines” to give him a hand. Think about it. Give him a call.
Commodore had Dave Bros read a letter that the club received from the Bob Speltz Land ’O Lakes organization. In place of the Red Wing and Minnetonka boat shows, BSLOL will have their show at the Bayport Marina on the St Croix River on August 13th and 14th. They would like EMYC to attend. The consensus of the members at the meeting was that we should accept. More information will be forthcoming.
Terry Mackey stated that official sail racing on the north pond will commence on Thursday, May 12th.
Tom Weigel had club burgees and bumper stickers available for purchase.
Gary Phillips had several dozen small parts boxes available, free, for the taking.
Business Meeting Ended 8:00PM

Terry Splettstoeszer showed his ProBoats Chris Craft barrrelback

Following the meeting, Kirk Brust gave a 15 minute presentation on his recently completed, 6 foot, Edmund Fitzgerald ore boat. Kirk adjusted his plans to give his buyer a desired model length which yielded a scale very close to 1:120 or, one inch equals ten feet. The hull is a one piece fiberglass molding. Superstructure is plexiglass and styrene. Everything on the model is scratch built with the exception of a few ladders. It was a four to five month project
Terry Splettstoeszer showed his ProBoats (from China) ready-to-run Chris Craft barrrelback runabout. Marketed by Horizon Hobbies, this model is an almost exact copy of the Dumas model, for a bit less money, and comes complete with installed radio. Pretty hard to pass up … and, you are on the water almost immediately.
Jim Smith showed his Midwest Boothbay Lobster boat. It's been ‘under construction’ for several years and, finally completed. Several modifications were made to convert the model into a cabin cruiser since the club already has several of the lobster boat versions.
Karl Bottemiller showed his latest creation, a tugboat named for his grandson. The “John B” is a plank on frame boat from a New Market French kit.
Nub Kopisca showed his Dumas Typhoon. This was a nine month project powered by 3600mAh NiMH cells. Nub had some difficulty getting the boat to perform well. It is difficult to turn and the first several props cavitated heavily. He currently has it running very well as anyone seeing it on the water can attest. Unfortunately, if he really lets it rip, the bow wave tends to end up in the open cockpit. So much for high performance!
Don Sektnan showed two inexpensive transmitter stands that he made… one from prefinished white wire shelving, and a second from small diameter PVC pipe and insulating foam. He also showed a tube filled with miniature spring clamps that he found at Menard's. “Cheap but good,” he claimed.
Meeting Adjourned 8:25PM

Cockpit of Jim Smith's Midwest Boothbay Lobster boat

Jim Smith showed his Midwest Boothbay Lobster boat. It's been ‘under construction’ for several years and, finally completed. Several modifications were made to convert the model into a cabin cruiser since the club already has several of the lobster boat versions.
Karl Bottemiller showed his latest creation, a tugboat named for his grandson. The “John B” is a plank on frame boat from a New Market French kit.
Nub Kopisca showed his Dumas Typhoon. This was a nine month project powered by 3600mAh NiMH cells. Nub had some difficulty getting the boat to perform well. It is difficult to turn and the first several props cavitated heavily. He currently has it running very well as anyone seeing it on the water can attest. Unfortunately, if he really lets it rip, the bow wave tends to end up in the open cockpit. So much for high performance!
Don Sektnan showed two inexpensive transmitter stands that he made… one from prefinished white wire shelving, and a second from small diameter PVC pipe and insulating foam. He also showed a tube filled with miniature spring clamps that he found at Menard's. “Cheap but good,” he claimed.