Spring/Summer President's Message 2021
Greetings Seacoast Division members,
I hope this message finds you in good health and fully vaccinated from the pandemic. Model Railroading in our area still continues to be affected by the pandemic. There is more hope that train shows and operating sessions can resume this summer and certainly by the Fall. In the meantime, most of the pandemic restrictions have been lifted and I am certain that most of you are on target to get your lives back to as much of a normal level as possible.
According to my latest information, the Concord Model Railroad Club show on August 15, 2021 is on schedule to happen as advertised. Also, the Fall Model Railroad Show, sponsored by the Great Falls Model Railroad Club is likely to happen, as well. These are all good indications that our external modeling activities are slowly getting back to normal. Additionally, I have heard reports that operating sessions have resumed on a few of the local layouts. This is all great news, as long as we continue to do the things that we need to do, in order to stay safe and healthy.
Seacoast Division Virtual Summer Event
Within our Seacoast Division, we are preparing for our Virtual Summer Event, which will happen on Saturday, July 17, 2021, from 10:00 am to 12:00 noon. Our Division Vice President, Glenn Mitchell, will be sending out his first Event Notice very soon. As in the past, I will send out the Zoom meeting information on the day before the Event. I will also plan a “practice†Zoom session meeting for either Wednesday or Thursday evening the week prior to the Event. These practice sessions are a great way to become familiar with the Zoom log-in procedures and also are a chance to see and catch up on the latest goings-on with your train buddies that you haven’t seen for a while. We have a lot of fun at these practice sessions! Please think about joining us!
Board of Directors Meeting
The Seacoast Division Board of Directors continues to be active. We held our most recent BOD meeting via Zoom on May 18, 2021. One of the items that we discussed was the updating of email addresses and phone numbers. It is very important that each member keep his or her contact information up to date. The way that this is done is for the member to go into the NMRA website ( ) and make the appropriate changes to your account on your personal profile. This is the only way to get this done correctly. Also, the NMRA and our Seacoast Division does not share your personal information with anyone. We respect your privacy, but we can’t contact you unless we have your correct information.
We are also continuing our planning, so that we can resume In-person events with the Fall Event, scheduled for Saturday, October 23, 2021. We are working to confirm the availability of the Stratham, NH fire house meeting room. We are preparing to have the Fall Event broadcast via Zoom, in addition to in-person attendance. This will be a first for our Division. Our Board Member, Bob Kotsonis, is making the arrangements that will make this happen.
On July 13, 2021, the Seacoast Division Board of Directors will hold our next virtual meeting. As a reminder, Seacoast Division Board of Directors meetings are open to all Seacoast Division members. If you have an issue or item where you feel the need to address the Board of Directors, or if you just want to listen in to one of the BOD meetings, please contact me and I will send you the meeting information.
NER Convention 2021
The Mill City 21 NER Convention will happen! If you had previously registered for attending this convention, you should have been contacted by now, by the convention registrar, Gerry Covino, with regard to your convention choices/preferences. Additionally, Gerry sent out the email message below, last week, and I thought it would be appropriate to include it in this message.
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT - ATTENDING THE CONVENTION
COVID-19 POLICY APPROVED BY NER TRUSTEES
All attendees at the Mill City 21 NER Regional Convention must agree to abide by all health and safety guidelines as specified by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the Town of Westford, and the convention venues at the time of the convention as it relates to capacity limits, maintained distance, mask wearing, or other safety procedures. Further, all attendees of the convention and the convention events must be fully vaccinated by the start of the convention.
Members or guests that have a legitimate medical reason for not being able to vaccinate must submit such exceptions in writing to the NER Convention Chairperson. Waivers will be granted on a case-by-case basis. Any individual granted such a waiver must agree to be masked at all times during the convention events.
If you are not comfortable with adhering to this policy please email me that you choose not to follow this policy and your registration will be refunded.
Within the next few days, an announcement will be forthcoming with any program changes as final plans are completed. As a registered participant you will have the first opportunity to modify your registration taking advantage to alter your registration before we reopen the Convention Registration to all members.
As of this time, we [NER] continue to feel optimistic that the Convention will be held as planned. Contact:.
Gerald Covino, Convention Registrar
Convention Registrar/Treasurer
Northeastern Region of the National Model Railroad Association
email: convention_registrar@
I am planning to attend the Mill City 21 NER convention, barring any unforeseen circumstances that may occur. Regarding the pandemic, at some point, we all have to get on with our lives. In order to do that, we have to learn to live and deal with Covid19. It is not going away anytime soon. There will always be a chance that we can catch this disease. But I feel with the measures that are in place, and with people being vaccinated, I think it is worth the risk. You may disagree with me and that is your right to do so. Your decision to attend the convention is just that. It is your decision.
There is one last item regarding the convention. You will not be asked to prove that you have been vaccinated. You will be on the honor system when you certify that you have been vaccinated.
Division Staff Openings
Our Division Webmaster would like to relinquish his duties. If you are the type of person that is very tech savvy and would be interested in running and maintaining our Division website, if you have those skills, please contact me. Thank you!
That is all I have for you at this time. We still need articles for the Switch Tower, and we would love to hear what you all have been doing to your layouts while this pandemic has been raging. Please join us at the upcoming Summer Event. I hope to see you all then.
Best regards,
Tage Erickson
Seacoast Division President