Greetings! December is here! Already! And it brought the cold weather with it! And, of course, the Christmas season, which has already been thrust upon us by hungry retailers since — JULY!

Regardless of the commercialism that this month seems to breed, the first Tuesday of December is also the annual Christmas Dinner for the Decatur Amateur Radio Club. We will hold our monthly meeting and annual dinner on Tuesday evening, December 3rd, at 6:00pm at Libby’s Catfish and Diner on top of Priceville Mountain on Highway 67 in the Priceville area. Just drive out of Decatur on Highway 67 (the Beltline, if you prefer), cross under the I-65 overpasses, and head up Priceville Mountain. Libby’s it at the top of the hill on the right just past the big white cross.

If you feel like you MUST meet in the basement auditorium of the Morgan County Courthouse in Decatur, please arrive early at the lower entrance off of Lee Street and let yourself in somehow so you can admire the building decorations by yourself. Enjoy the solitude, but please don’t get in the way of the building cleaning crew and don’t argue with the nice security or law enforcement people. And note that you’ll still be hungry afterwards!

This meeting will NOT be streamed on Microsoft Teams. For some unexplainable reason no one really wants to watch us stuff our faces with good food. We will resume the live streaming of the meeting in January.

NOTE: We still need to decide who will be the club officers for the coming year. The elections that are normally held in November were suspended until this month. Current Vice-President Craig McClure KJ4LAA will not be able to repeat due to the recurrence of his wife’s cancer. Nominations will be needed for this office. Please come for this important club function.

Saturday, December 7th, is Skywarn Recognition Day 2024. This is a national event, and all can participate. Details are available on the weather.gov website.

Please continue to spread the word to fellow hams or those who are wanting to take a test for a new or upgraded license that the Decatur club is still scheduling license testing every month on the first Saturday of each month. The testing sessions will be held in the Decatur Public Library on 6th Avenue NE (Highway 31) at 1:00. Please bring ID (especially your FRN, which is required on the license application) and your $15 fee. And, most importantly, PLEASE send an email to DecaturHamTest@w4atd.org so we can have the testing materials prepared and available for you. December 7th and January 4th, 2025, are our next scheduled testing dates. PLEASE NOTE: WE ALWAYS NEED VOLUNTEER EXAMINERS TO HELP WITH THE TESTING PROGRAM! If you want to help in some way (Extra class license is normally required), please let us know! And if you send an email and do not get a timely response, please let the secretary know.

Remember to check out the roster of current club members, online at www.HamClubOnline.com. Set up your free account and if you have paid your dues (and the Secretary has updated the database) you should see that you’re associated with the DARC. If there’s an issue, let us know.

And it’s not too early to pay your dues for 2025. It’s only $20.00 for the year (13 months if you pay now. What a deal!). If you have family members who would qualify for membership, they are only $5.00 each. See one of the officers at the meeting, or mail your dues to DARC, PO Box 9, Decatur, AL  35602-0009.

See you on Tuesday evening, December 3rd, 2024, at Libby’s Catfish and Diner at 6:00! Don’t be late! And come hungry!