Did you know... that the March RARS meeting is the annual birthday
party and awards ceremony.  Yes... yes, of course you did.  But did
you know how it all got started?  And that RARS actual birthday was
February 12, 1969?

There are more than one account of the early days of RARS.  One such
account goes like this:

It was the mid-sixties, and there was the Triangle Radio Club, which
met somewhere in Research Triangle Park.  (There may have been another
club, The Wake Amateur Association, but that's another account which
will be covered in future months.)

As Ed Alderman, WA4PEN, and Paul McCloud (call unknown) were just
about to arrive at the Triangle Radio Club meeting, Ed mentioned to
Paul that he would like to discuss something with him upon leaving
the meeting that evening.  The meeting conviened, and adjourned
like usual, without much action taking place.  Shortly after leaving
the meeting site, as Ed was thinking of a way to bring up his topic, 
Paul was thinking out loud, and commented that "We should start our own
Club, Ed".  Well, this was the icebreaker that Ed was searching for, as
that was the very thing that Ed had wanted to discuss on the way home.

This new organization was planned, and discussed, with one of the chief
focuses being on longevity.  You see, it was common in the sixties
for clubs to be formed, live through their life cycle, and wane away,
just as it happens today.  Ed and Paul wanted to start an organization 
that would be resistant to that fate.

The two began by collecting all the hams in their home neighborhood 
of Brentwood, and then spread out from there.  They discovered that 
there was sufficient interest and energy to make a go of it, so they
met for a year or two at the Occidental Life Building in Raleigh, and
then On Feb 12, 1969, Tom Alexander WA4OTA received the incorporation
papers, and the Raleigh Amateur Radio Society Incorporated was a reality.

This is a VERY brief description of only one version of the story.  I will
try in the coming months to learn more of the great deeds done by our
founding fathers, and report them in this space, but I also encourage
those of you who are not rich in the history of RARS to contact some
of those responsible, and ask them to tell you their tale.  It will likely
be some of the most valuable time you spend pursueing your hobby.

Thanks to Ed and Paul for providing much of the "push" required to
make it all happen.  I have also been told that Bob, K4MC (then W4FDV)
was instumental in the founding of the club, but I have not received
a first hand accout of the days from him yet, so cannot report on the
part that he played.

Happy Birthday RARS!

Jeff -- AC4ZO