The famous Southern comedian, Lewis Grizzard, had many, many funny sayings. Some got Baptist churches riled up at times. One of those was the title to a comedy album released in 1985, “I’ve Seen England, I’ve Seen France, I’ve Seen Miss America Without Her Underpants.” Well, Lewis didn’t make an appearance at the 2025 Huntsville Hamfest. Neither did that particular Miss America. But this line came to mind as I sat among about 30 or so hams in the ARRL Forum. It was hosted by Mikey Baker, N4MB, ARRL Director, Southeastern Division. This Division covers Alabama, Georgia, Northern Florida, Southern Florida, West Central Florida, Puerto Rico, and US Virgin Islands sections of the League. They claim to be the largest Division in the ARRL. There are a lot of licensed hams in those states but far fewer members.
The ARRL designated 2026 as the ARRL Year of the Club. This initiative highlights the importance of radio clubs and will be a topic of discussion for ARRL leadership. This will be at events like the Huntsville Hamfest, which will host the ARRL National Convention in 2026. Wow! This is a far cry from when Norm Fusaro was the Director of Operations at ARRL Headquarters. He told me a few years ago that “all they did with annual ARRL-affiliated clubs reports was to throw them into a file cabinet.” I had just spent parts of a week producing one for the Central Mississippi Amateur Radio Association where I was VP for Programming. Boy, that was encouraging.
What made me think of Grizzard’s slightly tawdry comedy album title was that the Forum began with progressive tones of celebrating the value that ham clubs in the U.S. bring to the hobby. Sort of like the sense of community-building that Alexis de Tocqueville wrote about in Democracy in America when he visited the fledgling nation of États-Unis from France. He extolled the “Art of Association,” highlighting Americans’ unique ability to form groups and associations to address community issues, a practice he saw as a crucial component of democracy. Director Mikey Baker described this policy decision by the Board to the audience with great positivity about what it would yield.
Yea! The ARRL is getting on board with community-building after decades of just giving gold stars to local clubs when they submit their annual reports to remain “affiliated” with the ARRL. Good deal. Here comes seeing England and France.
Director Baker said he was honored to serve the Division as the Director and hoped he would be re-elected in the upcoming election for the Southeastern Division. This was campaigning at the official ARRL Division Convention. As part of his accomplishments, he also extolled the many virtues of CEO Minster, for whom he said he made the Board motion to raise the CEO’s salary another $50K ($100 over two years). OK, Chamber of Commerce time it is.
No pants were then actually dropped but the underpants thing did get revealed in full view of the audience. Mr. Baker asked the crowd how many were members of the Atlanta Radio Club. There were a few who raised their hands. He then proceeded for a full 15 minutes or so to ask that those members pursue “firing” the current Atlanta Radio Club President. That is Bill Perkins KB4KFT. The reason? The ARC canceled the Atlanta Hamfest this year the day before the event was to begin. Mr. Baker apparently had non-refundable airline tickets to the event and was angry over having to eat the costs. He continued to lambast the ARC and the President as “terrible” in the operations of the Club, especially with regard to the Hamfest cancellation. Baker went on at length about offering League Foundation monies to assist but said emphatically they “never submitted the form” for the funds.
A member of the audience raised a question about the timing of this offer and the subsequent constraints placed on the Club by the ARRL if they accepted the money, such as guarantees to the ARRL of them having approval over the organization and conduct of the hamfest. Mr. Baker obfuscated on this aspect of the interaction, maintaining that it was “incompetence” by the ARC President that was at fault. Baker, when asked by an audience member, said he had not spoken to the Club officials involved to see what the circumstances were leading to the sudden cancellation. I think the term, half-cocked, is appropriate here.
After the Forum, I ran into Bill Perkins KB4KFT in front of the grandstand on the main floor of the Hamfest. I asked him about the sudden Atlanta Hamfest cancellation as it was described in the official ARRL Division Forum by Director Baker. Bill described the events presented by the host site of the Hamfest. They required, at the last minute, a fire inspection paid for by the Club. The Hamfest Coordinator, John Talipsky N3ACK, said that they just could not meet those demands so cancellation was the ARC’s only option. As President, Bill went with his VP and Hamfest Coordinator’s recommendation. Unfortunate? Yes. Bad timing? For sure. Incompetence? Ah geez. Can we simply put a mirror up in front of Newington to see what that actually looks like? Do League officers really want the ARRL’s performance on programs and services used as the standard for administrative competence in club leadership? Why does the League think it has official business meddling in club elections, especially to kick-off the Year of the Club? Isn’t that same behavior unethical in ARRL elections?
I didn’t raise my hand when Mr. Baker asked in the Forum but I am a paid member, and for a while now. In fact, I helped with club programming when I lived there after I was licensed at the Ga Tech Club with the ARC VE Team. Founded in 1911, the Club is over 100 years in operation with a sister club in Australia. The Atlanta Radio Club has been a leading voice in my home state of Georgia for decades regarding amateur radio. They have led the development of superb EmComm infrastructure and practice in Georgia. I could go on about their innovations but the web is your friend here.
Bill Perkins KB4KFT was the President back when I first joined the Atlanta Radio Club in 2010. He has been drafted a few times since to serve in that role. Let me be very clear. Bill is the best club President I have ever known. Bar none. I have learned many things from him in terms of building club culture, sharpening finances, dealing with conflict, and managing other officers. This comes from someone who has studied volunteer organizations, published peer-reviewed research based on them, and held offices in clubs and other organizations. Bill is a very competent, humble, and engaging President who has character. He simply did not deserve being put on public display in an official ARRL Event without the Director ever even asking him about the particulars of the matter. Perhaps that is something the Ethics & Elections Committee should consider. (It won’t but it should.)
After our conversation, I visited the Bone Yard looking for whatever might attract my interest. Bill took it upon himself, wearing an orthopedic boot due to a problem with his right foot, to visit the ARRL Booth and introduce himself to Director Mikey Baker. OK, I’ve said some things in front of groups at times that I wished I hadn’t. Most of the time I’ve walked them back with an apology or clarification to someone whom I might have offended. But Director Baker? No, he doubled-down to Bill in person, telling him how incompetent he was and that he should resign as Club President. Now, this is the story as I have been apprised by the parties involved or through direct observation.
Some kick-off to the Year of the Club in an official Division Convention, huh? While I am from Georgia, and lived there again for a few years while I worked down on Capital Walk in Downtown Atlanta, I am not a resident of the Southeastern Division. I do have interests in who gets elected for, once elected, the League says they do not have loyalty to the membership but to the corporation. Hence, all members have interests in all Board of Director elections! This Director chooses to publicly berate a large, century-old club for a decision made by those duly elected by Club members in which the ARRL has no legal interest. What it apparently has is a Director who is mad because he bought a non-refundable plane ticket to an event that got canceled the day before. Uh, was the League paying for that travel? Just curious.
If the reader IS a member of the ARRL residing within the Southeastern Division, think about this public episode in front of an audience. If you are a club member, would you like for your Club President to be subject to this type of public ridicule? Would you like to be treated in this fashion? If a sitting Director can behave in such a manner, without at least first investigating the nuts-and-bolts of why the Hamfest was canceled, then do voting members in the Southeastern Division want that person returned to office? If so, you have your candidate.
There are multiple candidates announced on the ARRL website as being “fit for candidacy.” Quoting the website, they are: “In the Southeastern Division, Director Mickey Baker, N4MB, will face challengers Jim Kvochick, K8JK, a former Michigan Section Manager; Scott Roberts, KK4ECR, who is the Northern Florida Section Manager, and Tom Schaefer, NY4I.”
My advice to my fellow League members in the Southeastern Division is to vote for the candidate whom they think best serves their interests and respects their activities, especially in this Year of the Club. Alexis de Tocqueville said we in America did this well a couple of centuries ago. This is particularly true if you don’t want to see Miss America in her underpants at official ARRL Forums.