The Stark County ARES Home Page

The Amateur Radio Service is governed by the Federal Communications Commission. Part 97 of the Commissions Rules and Regulations detail the Amateur Radio Service. Under Basis and Purpose it states the following principle.... "Recognition and Enhancement of the value of the Amateur Radio Service to the public as a voluntary noncommercial communication service, particularly with respect to providing emergency communications."

The FCC rules list emergency communications as one of the purposes of the Amateur Radio Service - and in reality, our ability to provide emergency communications justifies our Hobby's continued existence. The FCC has long recognized Amateur Radio as being among the most reliable means of medium and long distance communication it disaster situations.

The Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) is one of the umbrella organizations of Amateur Radio Emergency Communications and is sponsored by the American Radio Relay League. It's purpose is to provide a contingent of trained and qualified radio operators who stand ready to serve their local communities in time of need.

Stark County ARES has for the past 28 years been under the leadership of Emergency Coordinator David Beltz - WD8AYE. During that time Dave has worked toward the completion of three goals. One, to establish and maintain a team of highly skilled and dedicated radio operators ready to assist our local community. Two, to provide Stark County amateurs with a full-featured, reliable wide area coverage ARES repeater and three, to provide an information link to both amateurs and the community. As part of that effort, each year we provide an annual report detailing the activity of the Stark County ARES. This years report begins below.

Public Service takes on many roles here in Stark County. All year long amateurs are involved in various public service efforts nearly every day. From assisting stranded motorists make an autopatch call, to giving directions to out of town guests to our community, it would be nearly impossible to detail everything that area hams do to help our community. Attendance at club meetings, assisting with Safety Breaks, net participation, Skywarn Spotters and Red Cross involvement are but a few of the many ways our area hams are helping every day. If we were to total-up all the hours spent in service to these areas, we could easily reach thousands of hours of volunteer time each year.

During the year the Stark County Amateur Radio Emergency Service provided communications support for seven (7) scheduled community service events that collectively totaled 417 Hours of service which adds up to over $10,383 that our community received in professional communications services at no cost to the community. This represented a slight decrease in 2006. This is an important resource that doesn't go un-noticed by community leaders. This achievement was again made possible thanks to the total dedication of our ARES volunteers. People who made the commitment to serve their community in a way that no other volunteer organization can achieve.

ARES activity during 2007 was slightly less than the previous year thanks to a mild weather season and fewer public service activities that occurred during the year.

In early August moderately severe weather moved through our area resulting in activation of our Severe Weather Net. Storm spotters kept a close eye on the situation as the storm moved through the area. A tornado warning was issued during the late afternoon lasting for about an hour as the worst of the weather passed through Stark County fortunately leaving only minor damage and downed power lines behind.

The remainder of the year found us busy with our normally scheduled public service events including another busy Pro Football Hall of Fame Festival which continues to be our largest public service exercise.

2007 also continued our Mutual Aid cooperation with the Summit County ARES. This multi-county effort provided much needed experience and training for Stark Co ARES volunteers. This included a new event called the Tour De Cure Ride. Tour De Cure is a series of cycling events held in more than 80 cities nationwide to benefit the American Diabetes Association. Communications took the form of Medical Support as well as Logistics assistance to event organizers. Cooperation in these events continues to demonstrate to area safety forces that we can work together during emergencies, a key component in Homeland Security initiatives.

Remember to that ARES is more than just random individuals who join together to help out when needed. We are currently over 30 members strong - a team of highly skilled communicators who regularly sacrifice their evenings and weekends in order to provide community assistance. During 2007, forty-two (42) amateurs were involved in various public service activities.

We also noted that there was a general increase in participation in several events during 2007, a trend we hope will continue during 2008. The table below lists our community efforts for 2007 and the total volunteer hours.

EVENT	AMATEURS	ACCUMULATED HOURS
Hall of Fame Grand Parade	28	125.00
Massillon Holiday Parade	17	85.00
Tour de Cure Ride	10	60.00
Massillon MS Walk	12	60.00
Hall of Fame Community Parade	10	50.00
Quail Hollow MS Walk	6	27.00
Akron Marathon	4	20.00
TOTAL		417.00

Each year we also recognize those ARES members whose outstanding volunteer spirit continues to carry on the proud tradition of Community Service. Please join me in recognizing the following Top Ten Amateurs for exemplary service during 2007.

NAME	CALLSIGN	HOURS OF SERVICE
Terry Russ	N8ATZ	31.00
Igor Nikishin	K8INN	30.00
Dan Anastis	N8DZM	26.50
Wade Huthmacher	WD8MIU	26.50
Jason Stroll	KC8LIN	20.50
Rodger Trompower	KA8FTS	16.50
Ralph Bugg	K8HSQ	16.00
Tom Gill	KC8QOD	15.00
Don Finley	W8DEF	14.00
Linda Finley	K8MOO	14.00

During 2007 the Stark County ARES nearly completed our countywide Winlink Communications System. Significant hardware and software updates were completed to both the Western Node and the Mercy Medical Center Node to provide greater range and overall reliability to the system. The system was utilized for several public service events including use by the Summit County ARES.

We also completed additional training and presentations of the Winlink System during 2007 exposing more amateurs, local community officials and public safety safety forces to the benefits of Winlink.

Stark County ARES also actively attended several meetings throughout the year including the Spring Ohio Section ARES Conference, the ARES Forum at the Dayton Hamvention and the Ohio Section Conference in September.

2007 also saw several ARES members achieve additional FEMA Certifications and the ARRL Emergency Communication Certifications. Gary Kline - WC8W achieved his ARRL Level 3 Certification. Mike Palmer - KD8ENV, Rodger Trompower - KA8FTS, Wade Huthmacher - WD8MIU, Don Finley - W8DEF and Linda Finley - K8MOO collectively achieved eleven (11) new FEMA Certifications.

During 2008 we hope to complete our Winlink Communications Initiative and continue to support ARES training and help our members achieve both the ARRL Emergency Communications Certifications. We also hope to accelerate interest in local ARES to continue to obtain certifications for both the ARRL Level 1 Certification and FEMS's ICS-100 Introductory Course.

We will also continue to assist our Ohio Section Emergency Coordinator in increasing awareness of the Winlink Communications System and offer assistance to other area's by providing training & technical presentations in establishing the basic infrastructure necessary to provide Winlink communications.

In order to accomplish these goals it will take a lot of individual effort on the part of our local ARES volunteers. Additionally we intend to hold quarterly meetings covering a wide range of topics to further improve our local Stark Co ARES program.

Mere words will never adequately express our appreciation to the countless hours Stark County ARES volunteers commit to public service year after year. Our heartfelt thanks to everyone involved in community service, you all deserve top honors.

2008 will be just as demanding on our time with the many scheduled public service events we assist with and whatever unforeseen emergencies that will call upon our unique skills.

Homeland Security has added a new responsibility and challenge to our readiness to respond when duty calls. ARRL President Joel Harrison, W5ZN has committed Amateur Radio assistance in support of this new responsibility and Stark County ARES is preparing to meet this new challenge. Continuing participation & training is essential if we are to keep our skills sharp. Skywarn Training Sessions, Red Cross Drills, Simulated Emergency Tests are all on the horizon for 2008.

The ARRL's new introductory level Emergency Communications courses are a great way to develop new skills. Disaster Training Classes offered by FEMA should also be considered. I hope you renew your commitment to the Stark County Amateur Radio Emergency Service program. We are all needed to maintain the high level of communications readiness expected by our local communities. I can only promise that there will be no rewards except the satisfaction received from knowing we have done our very best to assist our community and carry on the finest tradition of the Amateur Radio Service.