The ARRL Board of Directors held its 2009 Annual Meeting on January 16-17 in Windsor, Connecticut, under the chairmanship of President Joel Harrison, W5ZN.

New Leadership in West Gulf Division: With the resignation of West Gulf Director Coy Day at the 2009 Annual Meeting of the ARRL Board of Directors, West Gulf Vice Director Dr David Woolweaver, K5RAV, steps into the Director position. In turn, Oklahoma Section Manager John Thomason, WB5SYT, was appointed to fill the Vice Director slot and Dean Feken, KL7MA, of Perry, was appointed Oklahoma Section Manager.

Just prior to the ARRL Board of Directors 2009 Annual Meeting, the newly elected leadership team in the ARRL's Delta Division -- Director Mickey Cox, K5MC, and Vice Director David Norris, K5UZ -- made their way to Newington for a day of orientation to learn the "ins and outs" of the ARRL Board and ARRL Headquarters operation.

Emergency Communications and ARES: Hams in Arkansas and Kentucky provided communications support to local served agencies in the aftermath of an ice storm that swept across the region. In the wake of winter storms, served agencies in Oregon and Washington called upon local amateurs in Oregon and Washington to provide 911 support and to assist out with communications in area shelters. Amateurs in Virginia and Maryland were on hand in local Emergency Operations Centers to provide communications support during the inauguration of President Barack Obama.

Logbook of The World marked the 200 millionth QSO uploaded to the ARRL's online QSL repository on January 16. ARRL staff have updated the LoTW system, making it more user-friendly.

ARRL officials confirmed that David J. Strout Sr, W2YC, of Williamstown, New Jersey, is the recipient of the very first Triple Play Award.

The ARRL Executive Committee approved Education and Technology Program grants to 21 schools, totaling nearly $21,000.

The ARRL announced that it will unveil a new course for Public Information Officers (PIOs) at Dayton.

During its annual meeting on January 22, the ARRL Foundation elected officers for 2009: Tom Frenaye, K1KI, President; Dick Isely, W9GIG, Vice President; Mary Hobart, K1MMH, Secretary, and Jim McCobb, K1LU, Treasurer.

The March 2009 issue of QST was released to the printer.

Garth Crowe Sr, N7XKT, of Gillette, was appointed Wyoming Section Manager, taking over the reins from LeeAnne Sachau, WY7DTW, of Devils Tower; Sachau, who served as Wyoming Section Manager since August 2008, decided to step down.

Yaesu donated an FTDX9000D transceiver to W1AW.

The 2008 ARRL Periodicals on CD-ROM is now available and includes the complete 2008 fully searchable collection of three ARRL journals -- QST, QEX, and National Contest Journal (NCJ).

500 kHz Experiment Coordinator Fritz Raab, W1FR, reported that 21 participating stations are currently active with the experiment since it began in late 2006.

The winner of the QST Cover Plaque Award for January is William E. Packard, NN9U, for his article "Morse Code: Efficient or Over the Hill?"

The Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) cancelled their joint special event with the ARRL, scheduled for March 16-17 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. This was to be a follow-up to an event held in September 2007 in Newfoundland.

The ARRL DXCC Desk approved the T61AA operation in Afghanistan.

On the Air: The ARRL RTTY Roundup was January 3-4, Kids Day was January 4 and the January VHF Sweepstakes was January 17-18. The ARRL International DX Contest (CW) is February 21-22.

Compiled by S Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA
ARRL News Editor