The Early 1930’s
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1932 Transcription -
W4NC History, as written by Wilson Lamb in 1934
Wilson Lamb, W4BOH December 25, 1911 – September 1987
(ca. age 22 at time of this essay)
With the birth of 1931 came the birth of the WSARC(sic).
It was in the last days of 1930 that several hams in the city decided to get
together and see if a ham club could be organized in this city for the purpose
of having a division convention sometime during the year. There being only a
few amateurs present at this first meeting it was decided to call another
meeting the first part of January and invite all hams in the city interested in
forming a club to attend.
The result of this meeting was the organization of the Winston-Salem Amateur
Radio Club with Al Hege 4ABT as President, H.S. Carter 4OG VP, C.R. Brewer 4RA
sec/treas. Committees were appointed to draw up a constitution and bylaws, and
to see about the possibility of holding a convention,(also to find a meeting
place). The dues at first were .25 per month and the meeting place, etc. was
the operating room of the local broadcast station WSJS. The meeting place was
soon moved to a room at the YMCA which was used until we moved in our own
building.
Most of 1931 was taken up with convention plans and assignments. After
corresponding with headquarters the convention later was set for the last part
of September. We needed money to back the convention and the club had no ready
cash so most of the members pledged a fixed amount to back the convention with
the understanding if the convention went over they would return the money back;
if not it was gone to profit and loss mostly lost. The convention went over big
and no one lost. The programs during this time consisted of talks on radio by
members and visiting each other's shacks.
After the convention the club had no object in particular to work to until
someone suggested that if we have a radio club it would be nice to have our own
meeting place and equipment. A very nice dream if it could be made real. This
suggestion was followed by much talk and plan drawing.
In the early part of 1932 we were offered a lot in the southwest part of the
city for a very small sum. At once we fanned out and inspected said lot. It met
our requirements so the club become owner of one lot.
After much argument a plan for a house was decided upon. Then came the question of who could we get to build it and how
could we finance it. After seeing many contractors we found one who was willing
to take a chance.
As we were obligated to pay a certain amount each month it was necessary for
some arrangements to be made. This time the membership was divided into teams,
each team agreeing to pay so much each month until the clubhouse was paid for.
One member on each team agrees to pay the left-out share if a member of the
team is unable to pay his part.
The house was finished in the first part of August, 1932 and we moved in.
This was very nice but it was far from complete so the next thing in order was
to equip it. Not being able to build the kind of transmitter we wanted, one of
the members suggested that he place his station at the club until we could
build our own. This was very nice and so two 65' towers were next on the
building program. It being summertime these were built of wood by the members
in the evenings after supper. At last we had a club house and transmitter even
if it was not quite all our own.
Programs during this time were practically nil as
we had no time for them due to the fact that everyone was busy helping get the
"something" built. The dues at this time were raised to 0.50 per
month and in October we had a booth at the county fair which put us before the
public more than ever.
It was in the first part of 1933 that argument and dissatisfaction started.
It was true that part of the members were putting in more money to the club
than others and all were spending it. Unfair? Yes. Up
to this time we were operating as a partnership, so as to fix things so that
every one would share in the proportion to the account they put in the club was
incorporated as a non-profit organization issuing membership certificates for
each $10 invested. At this time the bylaws were changed and the financial
affairs of the club were placed in the hands of a board of directors. The dues
at this time were raised to .50 per month. By this move we removed about 75% of
the arguments from the meetings. This left more time for programs and social
affairs.
During this year a club transmitter was started and built. Also a motor
generator was bought and reworked to give us a 3 kW 110 vac outfit capable of
operating our club independent of local power supply.
Early in 1934 we were given a chance to demonstrate our ability and worth to
the community. This was caused by the most severe sleet storm ever to these
parts. This storm cut off all communication to and from the city and left us
the only ones able to furnish outside contacts.