Three incumbent Section Managers were re-elected in races that concluded on Tuesday, November 24. In Alabama, Jay Isbell, KA4KUN, received 513 votes; challenger Les Rayburn, N1LF, received 167 votes. Isbell, of Bessemer, will begin his second term as Section Manager on January 1, 2010. In the Alaska Section Manager election, Jim Larsen, AL7FS, of Anchorage, won his second two-year term of office when he received 176 votes; challenger David Stevens, KL7EB, received 65 votes. Ron Cowan, KB0DTI, of LaCygne, Kansas, will continue as Section Manager; he received 382 votes while challenger Joseph Plankinton, WD0DMV, received 175 votes. Cowan has been the Kansas Section Manager since 2003. The following incumbent ARRL Section Managers did not face opposition and were declared elected for their next terms of office beginning January 1, 2010: Jim Latham, AF6AQ (East Bay); Frank Filipkowski, AD3M (Delaware); Dale Williams, WA8EFK (Michigan); Don Wood, W5FHA (New Mexico); Glen Clayton, W4BDB (Tennessee); Robert Griffin, K6YR (Santa Barbara), and Ed Emco, W1KT (Western Massachusetts).

Some years ago when I took the ARECC (Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Course), I discovered an aspect of the hobby of which I'd been unaware: Formal traffic. One of the exercises in the course said that I should compose a formal message and then send it to my ARRL Section Manager.

Ken Adams, K5KA, succumbed to cancer and passed away on Sunday, November 22. He was 64. Adams, an ARRL Life Member, served as the first-ever Contest Manager for the ARRL Sweepstakes, coming on board in 2005. "Ken was a 'get it done' kinda guy," recalled ARRL Contest Branch Manager Sean Kutzko, KX9X. "He took on the task of Sweepstakes Manager with great enthusiasm, rolled up his sleeves and championed the event like nobody else I've ever seen."

On Friday, November 20, ARRL staff members started opening ballots for the Vice Director races in the Central and Roanoke Divisions. Southeastern Division Director Greg Sarratt, W4OZK; Rocky Mountain Division Director Brian Mileshosky, N5ZGT, and ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ served as Tellers. A representative from an independent auditor was on hand, as well. Sarratt and Mileshosky are members of the League's Ethics and Elections Committee; Sarratt is Chairman of the committee. After all the ballots were counted, both the Central and Roanoke Divisions gained new Vice Directors, with their three-year terms beginning at noon on January 1, 2010.

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