2011 Wrap Up and Thanks

[Michael]

It has been an interesting year in the western half of the US and one that has proved gratifying for me as West Coast Vice Chairman.  We have seen a resurgence of interest in scale competition with higher numbers of participating pilots at Gunsmoke, the So Cal Scale Qualifier, as well as new qualifier events like the one in Fresno which served as a warm-up for the Championships.  Much of this is due to the membership of the Scale Masters organization and their willingness to travel and support these events, as well as the efforts of Curtis Kitteringham to encourage clubs to hold qualifiers that provide the venue for the pilots.

It is also noteworthy that there is some new scale activity in the Northwest that has been carefully nurtured by Roly Worsfeld and has developed into a Northwest Scale Championship event.  The impetus there is to provide a mini-scale circuit of contests for the guys and gals in the Northwest who cannot travel long distances to the ScaleMaster Championships,  but still want to compete for a best-of-the-best award in the Northwest.  More power to them, as this is what scale competition is all about, and that concept is at the heart of our organization's mission to foster scale participation.

I appreciate and want thank Carolyn Van Herk our outgoing National Chairman, Mike Barbee the East Coast Vice-Chairman, and Gary Norton, our intrepid moneybags man for all their hard work over the past years that kept the ScaleMasters dream alive and gave us the organization to enjoy our scale competition venue.

I also want to thank all of you members that have helped me during the past couple of years and have made my tour of duty on the Board of Directors the fun that it has been.  Bernie Boland, our new Chairman, will need your support as will Curtis and all of the members of the Board of Directors.  If the ScaleMasters program and organization is to continue to thrive, we need to embrace the new ideas and try out new methods that will help us to grow and include newcomers to the sport.  Continue to build, practice your flying skills, and above all help a new guy get involved in scale competition.  My best to all of you...

Mike