It is with sadness that our member, Joe Krout, KRØUT, passed in early December. Joe was very active in numerous clubs, including SFTARC. He was president of the Jayhawk Amateur Radio Society, President of the MEMO club, and a founding member of The Olathe Ensor Foundation. Joe held positions in many other organizations in the area, and his enthusiastic support found him honored as Kansas Amateur Radio Operator of the Year in 2013 at the Kansas State Amateur Radio Convention in Salina.

      We lost member, Pete Christensen, KEØSHD, earlier in October. Pete served as an Air Force Pilot in the 70s and, as a ham, was very active in the 40M Eye Bank Net.  Earlier in May, we lost founding member Rob Mayberry, KE5BR. Rob was instrumental in forming the club in the early days and was one of our long-time repeater trustees.  See the sftarc.org website for a full article on each of these Silent Keys at the About Us/ Silent Keys Menu Item. 

     The club put on quite a number of successful events and activities throughout the year, including Field Day, where we deployed the tower trailer donated by Dave Cochran, KBØVRA, EnsorFest 24, Kansas QSO Party, several POTA events;Tallgrass On The Prairie at Strong City, KS. and the Pony Express at Hollenberg, KS. Members attended the local Hambash 24, Hamvention in Ohio, and the special presentation at the Amelia Earhart Museum at Atchinson, KS.  Early in the year, the club successfully conducted classes for 5 Technician, and 13 Morse Code students, and ordered a new batch of SFTARC logo clothing.

     If you're interested in upgrading or refreshing your skills, registration is open on our website for this year's General Class Course.