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To: Western Country Cousins Membership

From: President, 2007-2008, K7JAL Joe

First off I would like to thank the previous administration for their hard work with the Western Country Cousins Network. They picked it up after Mickey became a silent key.

I would like to thank Jim W7ZHQ Vice-President for keeping the net going while in limbo from the end of the elections until the picnic when the new officers took office. Jim has put together a list of net controls to fill all the holes that were left. Most of you know Jim and he knows all of you out there. Jim has been a member of the Western Country Cousins since the mid to late 1970's.

I would like to thank Mike K7AMS for doing such a great job as Secretary/Treasure, and net control for several years. Thanks to Mikes XYL Cheri for doing a good part of the S/T work and keeping Mike focused. Mike is the net control on Friday nights, and is tops at it.

I would like to thank Paul KB7MXT for picking up the Health and Welfare Managers position in our time of need. Paul does a fabulous job. We couldn't ask for a better Health and Welfare Manager. Paul has come up with some wonderful ideas for the Health and Welfare Managers position. He intends to collect birth dates and anniversary dates, and put them out as projects. This will give a positive connotation to the Health and Welfare Managers Reports. It would be nice for all of the membership to either send Paul an email, post card, or letter with those two dates. Year is optional, just the month and day is what we are asking for, if the members would like the year added they can send that to Paul. Also, it would be nice to have the members spouses information.

Paul's email and address are as follows:

KB7MXT
Paul J Garcia
3620 Roseglen Ct
Las Vegas NV 89108
Email: "Paul Garcia"

I would like to thank Dan KB7CMB for keeping the web site up to date and such a great web site. Just one look at the site will let everyone know how much work that Dan does to make it a great place to hang out. There is a link to the web site by going to QRZ looking up KB7CMB. The web site is http://users.mcsi.net/wcc. Visit the site often and let Dan know how great a job he does.

I would like to thank Bob NG6E for all the information and history about the Western Country Cousins Net. Bob is virtual encyclopedia of information on the Western Country Cousins.

Above all I would like to thank all the membership without who we would not have a net. Come by and check in often. We like to hear from you.

Now to the meat of the subject. I have heard some rumors that the present administration was trying to make the Western Country Cousins like the Northwest Country Cousins. This is far from the truth. The Western Country Cousins has been around for 40+ years as is. The Northwest Country Cousins is a totally different net, more of a free for all net. The Western Country Cousins net is more structured and directed.

Both of the nets are a social net, but are structured differently, and I intend to leave it that way. There will be no changes to any part of the Western Country Cousins Constitution and By-laws. They will be adhered to as the membership had approved them several years ago.

I have made a few changes to improve the net. First, I have changed the Opening Statement and Closing Statement. One of the main problems was getting to the membership sooner. It had gotten to the point that members were not called as late as 9:45 PM, which is not reasonable. The Opening Statement has been shortened to try and get to membership by 9:15 PM. This seems to be working well so far. I deleted several redundancies and shortened other areas.

The vice-president W7ZHQ Jim has management control of the net controls as stated in the Western Country Cousins Constitution and By-laws. I give him my complete support to do his job as he sees fit.

The net controls are in full control of the net on their night. Most of the net controls have been members longer than I, and I will not try and tell them how to run their net, but I will be there to support them when needed.

Jim (W7ZHQ) and I (K7JAL) will be here to relay as much as possible. The membership need to understand that we also have a life beyond the radio and there will be times that we are not able to be on net to relay, but for the most part we will make every effort to be on net.

A little about my credentials. I was first licensed in 1976 as novice, in 6 weeks I had passed the advanced class. In May of 1980 I passed my extra exam.

I worked for the FAA as the drafting supervisor in the Northwest Mountain Region. I left the drafting field and went to work with the FAA as an electronic technician. I spent 4 years here in the Seattle area working on a long range radar, microwave link, and communication equipment. I moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming and spent 8 years working on ILS systems, VOR/TACAN's, microwave links, communications equipment, and weather radar information. In 1992 I moved back to the Seattle area and went to work at the ARTCC (Air Route Traffic Control Center). I worked on communication equipment and before the end of the year I was appointed as Com supervisor. A year later I was selected for a position as NAS Specialist (NAS stands for National Airways System) I worked as NAS specialist for 6 years and was promoted to NAS Operations Manager. I was in that position until my retirement.

I want to thank all of the members who supported me for the office of President of the Western Country Cousins. I will do my best to fulfill my duties to the best of my abilities.

73's to all from the Presidents shack.

Joe K7JAL