Established 1994
Pittsburgh Garden Railway Society
PO Box 302
Charleroi, PA 15022
February 2009 Newsletter
(2009-1)
Newsletter Views
by Larry Marcinko
For some time now (at least the past five years since I've
been in the club), the PGRS newsletter has been published six times per
year, every other month starting in January. As secretary for the past four
years, now starting my fifth, I have been responsible for the lion's share
of articles, opinions, reports~most of what members have read during this
time. I have done my best, with the help of trusty and loyal wife, Jannie,
(1) to record and convey the experiences of the club, (2) try to inspire
interest and participation, (3) help form a philosophy/direction of what the
club is about and where it should go.
Although I've enjoyed many hours and cultivated some wonderful friendships
and experiences that I would not trade for anything, the weight of meeting
the deadlines and having something worthwhile to consistently publish every
sixty days or so has worn on my psyche lately. I violate Rule #1 of the
club by pressuring myself to sit and write something to fulfill this
"obligation". To remedy the situation, after valued input from some
respected members, we've decided that the newsletter will now be published
on an as-needed basis as opposed to a scheduled one. When there is good
material to be conveyed, a newsletter will be issued; when not, we'll look
for news to materialize. We're shooting to maintain four to six published
newsletters per year, but that will depend on things like member input,
events calendar or developments in the hobby. Members may receive brief
updates on issues in between when there isn't enough for a full edition and
in ALL cases will be mailed hardcopy if they have no Internet connection.
Writing skills are NOT necessary to have something appear in the
newsletter. Anyone with ideas, observations, pictures, tips, etc. is free
to call or e-mail me for assistance in "fleshing out" what a member wants to
share.
We'll number each edition with a common sense system of PGRS2009-1 thru
PGRS2009-?F for the final edition of the year.
With this new policy in place and our online abilities to publish first-rate
digital pictures as well as videos, we look forward to this newsletter being
better than ever on it's quest to being fun, informative, interesting and
the best that it can be...that goes double for the club!!!