by Rich Hane, Chapter President

I hope that everyone that came to our train picnic at Crofton and the meeting last month had a good time. We had several nice trains come through and those that stayed longer were treated to even more train action and Wally’s live steam engine display is always fascinating to see.  The 25th Anniversary Dinner was well received and we enjoyed a nice evening of socializing and time together. Dennis Carnal was not able to show his program on remembrances of our good friend Ron Stubblefield due to his mother having to go to the hospital. Our thoughts and prayers are with Dennis and his mother at this time. Dennis’s program will be rescheduled, probably for the December meeting which will include a Christmas banquet too.

On another matter, after trying three different times my wife and I have been able to renew our chapter’s status as a non-profit program which will make us able to remain a tax exempt chapter and all we have to do to keep it is to file an internet postcard each year. We have had a very good year with the chapter moving forward on several fronts with the future of the Pennyrail decided, having a successful 25th Anniversary celebration, a lowering of our chapter dues to reflect these changes, and we can look forward to a firm and stable meeting place now that the use of the L&N depot is assured and set up for our use.

The October meeting is the meeting at which we put out the first call for nominations for the officers of our chapter. The second call will be at the November meeting after which we have the brief election. I have always encouraged people to feel free to come forward and run for any office that they are interested in. A good democracy relies on people willing to rise to the occasion and do their part in promoting the good of the organization. After last year’s election several members came to me and asked me to try and make the election real and have different people run for president to encourage variety and change. With this thought, I have decided to step down as president and make the electoral process open without me in the way. So, all of you need to consider running for president knowing that I will absolutely not be a candidate. My doctor would like me to avoid certain stresses and I will follow his orders, after all, he listens to me when we discuss trees and the environment.

So, to summarize, I will not be a candidate for president under any circumstances so the membership needs to rise to the occasion and someone needs to consider throwing their hat into the ring.

I look forward to seeing all of your smiling faces at the next meeting at the Center in beautiful downtown Madisonville at 7pm on Monday, October 25th. Dr. Fred Ripley will have a most entertaining program and I am looking forward to it.

September is promising to be a busy month. We went to the Kentucky Railway Museum last week and had a great time riding behind L&N #152 the 105 year old Pacific type steam engine. She ran and looked fine and the track work going north from New Haven is open and as pretty as ever. There was an ex-US Air Force Alco diesel switcher running around, too. The model layouts are closed for a time due to the severe floods in May but the museum itself is open and the trains will be running every weekend. Try to plan a visit and have a good time and don’t forget to make a donation to a fine museum and bunch of volunteers that are keeping railroading alive.

Rex Easterly and myself will be trying to help Kay Stubblefield dispose of some of Ron’s trains. Let me know if you are interested in being put on an informal mailing list to buy some of these trains and other memorabilia that we might find. There are trains of many gauges that we have found including Z, N, HO, S gauge American Flyer, O gauge, G gauge, Marx, Kusan, and probably others beside a few lanterns, posters, pictures, signs, etc.   Items range in quality from good to poor.

I hope to see many of your smiling faces at the annual Crofton, KY picnic that many of us have enjoyed in the past on Saturday, Sept. 25. Also, don’t forget the Sept. meeting on Monday, Sept. 27th and help us celebrate our 25th birthday. Call Wally to reserve a catered meal as soon as possible. The meeting will be at the Center in beautiful downtown Madisonville at 7pm.