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A Club for Senior Hams
Robert Rickey, NF6P
The Old Old Timers Club (OOTC) is currently celebrating 50 years of existence.
The organization was founded by Hubert E. Ingalls, W1NQ, an Amateur Radio
operator who was a career radio operator aboard ship and on shore. His
purpose in founding the organization was to establish a common bond of
radio communication between himself and friends and acquaintances who
had similarly served as commercial radio operators and with whom he had
communicated in the early days of "wireless." The organization
grew in membership and was incorporated later as a non-profit organization
under the laws of Rhode Island. It is not associated or affiliated with
any other organization. It is essentially unchanged to this day except
for the size of the organization.
Since its origination the organization has grown from the original thirteen
members to more than 3,700. The establishment of a common bond between
senior Amateur Radio operators remains a primary purpose of the club.
The requirement for admission has also remained unchanged since founding.
An applicant must have engaged in two-way radio communication as a radio
operator at least forty years prior to being accepted as a member. It
is not necessary that the applicant be active or licensed throughout that
period, only that he was active at least 40 years prior to becoming a
member and be licensed now. There are approximately 1,000 active members.
Many have become silent keys. Some, of course, have dropped out.
The club was formed in 1948 during an on-the-air round table meeting.
During the preceding Fall, 1947, Ingalls, put the idea of forming a club
to Irving Vermilya, W1ZE, and Roland Bourne, W1ANA. The three of them
wrote the Constitution and By-laws during that period, establishing the
founding date to be 1947. Vermilya became the first OOTC president. He
is best remembered as the operator at the old "CC," the Marconi
station at South Wellfleet, Cape Cod, MA. Borne became the first vice
president. He worked for, and was a close associate of Hiram Percy Maxim.
He held more than 70 patents himself when OOTC was born. He designed the
membership certificate that is in use today. Ingalls, being a modest man,
chose to be the first OOTC secretary rather than the president.
The club is composed of a president, executive secretary and ten directors,
none of whom receive compensation, either directly or indirectly. The
current president is Leland Smith, W5KL. He and the board of directors
set the policies of the club and determine its activities. They provide
direction to the Executive Secretary, Bert Wells, W5JNK who, with a clerk-typist,
handle the day-to-day operation of the club. Their work includes the writing,
reproduction and distribution of "The Spark Gap Times", a quarterly
publication. It identifies the officers and directors, contains a list
of new members, gives their biographies, and includes lists of active
and deceased members. Each issue provides a message from the president
and describes the developments and rulings of the FCC or interest to the
members. It also contains one or more articles of interest to the members.
At intervals of approximately three years a publication containing a current
roster, a list of deceased members, and a copy of the constitution and
by-laws is prepared and distributed.
Persons interested in learning more about OOTC are invited to contact
OOTC Headquarters, 3191 Darvany Dr., Dallas, TX 75220-1611. Phone 214/352-4743.
E-mail: OOTC@juno.com
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