Late Summer President's Message 2021
Hello to all Seacoast Division members out there!
It has indeed been a while since I sent out a message to you. We do have some information to pass on to you, most of which is very good news. I hope that you all have been enjoying your summer and the warm weather. Maybe you have also been able to accomplish some work on your favorite modeling project, and perhaps make good progress on your layout. I continue to make slow progress on my layout helix construction, along with a few decoder installations, while getting in a few rounds of golf each week. So enough about me, let’s get this started!
Seacoast Division Clinic Database
Our quarterly events are the main focus of our Division activities. The purpose of these events is to provide modeling information that our members can take home with them that helps each of us with our own personal modeling efforts. The clinics and presentations that we provide at these events are done by our members. Over the years, many of you have contributed your considerable talents and energy towards developing these educational presentations.
At our most recent Board of Directors meeting, we decided that it would be a very good idea to do some research and develop a listing of all those members that have presented clinics, going back at least 10 years or more if possible. Our Seacoast Division Director, Jack Lutz, has graciously agreed to take on this task and become our Division Clinic Coordinator. If in the past, you have done a presentation/clinic for our Division, and are still capable of doing it again, or have updated your presentation with new information, or have a completely new presentation, then Jack would like to hear from you so that he could add it to our new clinic database.
If you don’t get in touch with Jack, then Jack will likely be getting in touch with you so that your information can be updated. Jack can be reached at (207) 605-0037 or by email at . This database will be extremely helpful to the Division as we move ahead with planning for our future Division Events. In fact, our next Quarterly Event will be on October 23, 2021 at the Greater Wakefield Resource Center (GWRC), which is located at 254 Main St., Union, NH, and we still need clinics for that event. I would like to encourage each of you to consider making up a presentation or clinic that could possibly be used at one of our upcoming quarterly events. So let’s pitch in and help Jack get this database going. This will ultimately help the organizers of our future Seacoast Division Quarterly Events, which in turn, will help each of us with our individual modeling efforts. Thank you!
New Seacoast Division Webmaster
It is my pleasure to inform you that the Seacoast Division has a new webmaster. Seacoast member Dave Delorey has graciously agreed to take over the task of being our webmaster. Dave has been doing this type of work for many years and brings a wealth of knowledge to his new duties. Thank you Dave! I would also like to thank our outgoing webmaster, Steve Russo, for his dedication and service these past years. Steve has done a terrific job for us with our website! Steve, we are all grateful for the effort and time that you put into it.
If you have an article or some photos, or a paragraph or two about your latest modeling project, please consider having it posted on our website. We are always interesting in seeing the talent in our Division posted in a place that all can see and benefit from. Please contact Dave at if you have something that can be posted on our Division website.
Concord Model Railroad Club Train Show
On August 15, 2021, the Concord Model Railroad Club held its annual model train show at the Everett Arena in Concord, NH. I am happy to say that the Seacoast Division was well represented at the show. Glenn Mitchell and I set up our Division display and spent the day chatting with potential members and many of our regular members. Let me say that it was a real pleasure to see our members in person, again. We all had a lot to chat about and it seemed to make the day go very quickly. Throughout the day, we were assisted at our display table by Directors Mike Pedersen and Jay Ehlen, along with our Secretary, Nelson Lemay. Thanks for the help, guys! At the end of the day, our efforts were rewarded as Glenn was able to sign up 2 new members. So it was a really good day and really nice to be doing an in-person event.
The next train show that the Division is supporting will be the Eastern Maine Model Railroad Club train show which will take place on Saturday November 20, 2021 at Jeff’s Catering in Brewer, ME. Please come and enjoy the show and stop by the Division display and say hi.
Members In The News
As many of you know, last year in the May 2020 issue of Model Railroader magazine, Seacoast member Tom Oxnard’s Boston & Maine layout was featured on the cover and included a terrific 10 page article written by Tom, where he describes in detail all the different aspects of his layout and how it was constructed. We are certainly fortunate to have Tom as a member of our Division. In addition to all the great clinics that he has presented to the Division throughout the years, he has been serving as our AP Coordinator for New Hampshire, as well. Recently this year, Tom was elected to be the At Large Northern Director for the NMRA Northeastern Region (NER). Tom, on behalf of all of our Division members, I wish to congratulate you on this achievement and to thank you very much for all your contributions to the Seacoast Division, the NMRA, and to our wonderful hobby. Well done!
Recently, one of our Division members was kind enough to supply me with a few back issues of Railroad Model Craftsman magazine. As I was thumbing though the pages of the May 2021 issue, I noticed an 8 page article, written by Seacoast Division member Victor Hand, describing his massive scratch built "Harmon Coal Dock" that is part of his awesome New York Central layout. This is an absolutely beautiful structure and I have included a picture of it below. You may recall that Victor was kind enough to provide a virtual tour of his layout for last year’s virtual NER convention. If you can get a copy of the May 2021 issue of RMC, please read the article. And a hearty thank you to Victor for sharing his modeling expertise with us. Well done!
Seacoast Division Fall Event
As I mentioned above, your Seacoast Division will be holding our Fall Event at the Greater Wakefield Resource Center (GWRC), which is located at 254 Main St., Union, New Hampshire on Saturday, October 23, 2021 at 10:00 am. We are looking forward to conducting our first in-person meeting since the pandemic began. The Event will also be broadcast via Zoom for those that can’t make it in person. Box lunches will be available at the venue, but will have to be ordered ahead of time. Also, we still need a few people to do clinics for this event. Glenn Mitchell will be sending out more detailed information in his upcoming meeting announcement, which will include our Division Vaccination/Mask policy for those that attend the Event in person. Please consider showing up in person for this Event, and if you have a clinic that you would like to share with your fellow members, please contact Glenn Mitchell ASAP.
The format of the Event will be similar to our past in-person events with the exception of the following item. We will be placing a donations basket at a prominent location in the meeting hall. The purpose of this is to offset the costs of using the venues for our quarterly events and other administrative costs that we incur from time to time, that are slowly bleeding off money from our treasury. We are certainly not in any financial difficulties, but we have no way to replenish the funds in the treasury unless we do something like this. While this is strictly voluntary, we hope you will consider donating a few bucks, for those that attend in person. I will be sending out a separate email that discusses our current options for fund raising and how you can donate to the Division.
Seacoast Division 2022 Elections
As you all know, we have our annual elections coming up soon. Our Division Nominating committee chairman, Bruce Campbell, has sent out 2 emails with regard to our current situation. Each year, we vote to elect/reelect 3 of our members to positions on the Division Board of Directors. This year, 2 of the 3 Board members that are due for reelection, will not be on the ballot. This means that we must have some volunteers from the membership who are willing to step up and possibly become members of our Division Board. I ask you all to consider doing this.
Being a Board member is really not all that difficult. It is a terrific way to meet other members of the Division and to get to know them. Yes, it will require you to attend Board meetings. These are done virtually on Zoom and therefore do not require travel. The Board meets about 8 times each year, usually on a normal week day, to provide oversight for Division events and coordination. It is a way for you to step up and get a bit more involved in the functioning of the Division. You will need to be able to attend most Division functions in person and be willing to help coordinate things that make the Division function. If you are considering this, please go on-line to the Division website and read the appropriate section of the Division By-Laws that define the duties of a Board member. We need a few good men/women!
In addition to needing 2 new Board members, the new Division Board will be electing a new Division President for 2022. After much thought, I have decided to not run for Division President again. After 3+ years as your President, it is time for someone else to lead the Division. I am finding that many of the things that I want to accomplish in my life, will require time, that I do not presently have to give. So something must go. My plate is simply too full. Additionally, there are some medical issues which my wife and I must now deal with for the foreseeable future. I wish to thank each and every member for your support during these past 3 years. We have accomplished a lot. It has been a terrific experience, to be the President of the Seacoast Division, and I am grateful for the opportunity to have served the Division. After the new President takes office in January 2022, it is my hope that I can become the Chairman of the Faulter Fund Committee and continue to be of some service. Thank you again, for all your support.
Upcoming Board of Directors Meetings
The next virtual meeting of the Seacoast Division Board of Directors will be on Thursday, September 2, 2021 at 10:00 AM via Zoom. If you have an issue that you want to bring before the Board or you just want to sit in on the meeting, please contact me and I will send you the meeting log-in information.
The next virtual meeting of the Northeastern Region Board of Directors will be on Sunday, August 29, 2021. I will be attending that meeting, at which time I hope to receive an update on the planning for the upcoming NER Convention in Westford, MA. As most of you know, the NER Convention will take place over the Columbus Day weekend this year. My plan is to send out a Convention update to you once I have the information.
So I guess that’s enough. That’s all I have for the time being. Thanks for taking the time to read this, and I hope to see many of you at our Fall Event on October 23rd.
Best regards,
Tage Erickson
Seacoast Division President
Victor Hand’s Harmon Coal Dock
