The July 19, 2008 meeting was held in the Newton Public Library.  The meeting was called to order at 9:15am by Vice-President Kent Stutzman.  Present were Ko Bartel, David Duerksen, David Godshall, Bob Ogden, Joe Palmer, and Kent Stutzman.

Minutes: The June Minutes were read and approved with one correction.  The meeting adjourned at 9:57am, not pm.

Treasurer's Report: No update given.

Field Day: The Field Day information has been submitted to the ARRL, however there is currently a little discrepancy with the GOTA contacts since we did not keep good enough track of exactly which operators worked how many contacts.  David may resubmit an update once this is figured out.  The current submission has 630 contacts for 2062 contact points, plus 910 bonus points, for a total of 2972 points.  We submitted under the K0HC Hesston Club callsign this year, with the Newton N0NK for the GOTA station.  Kent Stutzman suggested we consider a different location next year, a more public spot closer to town, for example Wal-Mart's parking lot.

MCC Flatlanders Bike Ride:  We have been requested to help with the Flatlanders Bike Ride September 20, from around 8am to 3pm, which is also the same time as the September club meeting.  Roger Wilson used to head this up but since his passing his participation is expected to be minimal.  David will send the information to the club to gauge club membership interest and ability to help and will get back with Ken Janzen to let him know if we can help.

Ham Radio Advocacy: Kent shared that Sherry Weir upgraded to her General license.  There was discussion about Amateur Radio declining in popularity, but young people when exposed to Ham Radio are often receptive to it, they just are not getting exposed very much.  Some suggestions: have a fox hunt with your local scout group and get on the news, make space station contacts with students at a local school, work with school science teachers.

Meeting time/location: There was more discussion about the meeting time.  One observation was with the library opening at 9am, maybe we should meet at 9:30am or 10am so as to not have to hang around outside waiting for the doors to open.  There was also interest in revisiting whether Saturday morning is the best time, or should we move to a day in the week, which would also allow for the possibility of meeting at the the Emergency Management facilities.

Electrical Safety: Discussion of electrical safety tips and stories.

Memberships:  Received a new member, Roger Horst, who also signed up with ARRL membership through the club, which gives the club a $15 bonus.  David is also renewing his lapsed ARRL membership for another $15.  New or lapsed memberships (2 years lapsed or longer) who sign up through the club get the club $15, regular renewals through the club get it $2.

Meeting adjourned at 10:19am.