Rob McKenzie's blog

Changing of the Guard

Rob McKenzie — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 16:09:00 -0600

It's the time of year to re-elect our CSS officers. For most CSS members it's something that just comes and goes and doesn't really affect them very much. And for those few that have volunteered to hold an office it's a time to wonder, why am I doing this?

Getting new blood into the CSS officer list is a good thing. The more we have members that have held an office and see the workings of how we perpetuate and grow the site the more strength the CSS has. But also, it is good to not make too many changes all at once. If we had all new officers in the same year, there would be a fair amount of reinventing the wheel as the new group tries to take hold of important items like keeping the site insurance up, having our tax returns done, paying our bills, processing new members dues and cards, etc.

2008 Elections

Rob McKenzie — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 12:55:07 -0600

It's that time of year again. On about Jan 15th 2008 we'll be mailing out a CSS Flypaper to all members. It will have some reports by your officers and it will have an election ballot. If you know anyone you would like to nominate for a CSS office or if you would like to hold an office yourself please contact me prior to Jan 10th 2008 to have the name(s) included in the ballot.

Offices of the CSS are: President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Site Coordinator, Editor and Webmaster, Activity Director.

CSS Fall Meeting

Rob McKenzie — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 10:31:36 -0500

Announcing the Fall General Membership Meeting of the CSS. It will be at the Andy Jackson Airpark on Sunday November 4th at 4:45 PM. If you have any items you wish to have added to the agenda please contact me at . Thanks. / Rob McKenzie

CSS 2007 Spring Meeting

Rob McKenzie — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 20:08:18 -0500

The spring general membership meeting is to be held at the Andy Jackson Airpark at 7 PM on Saturday April 28th. Contact me if you would like something added to the agenda. It is open to everyone and especially all CSS members.

I would like to also mention that the USHGF has now granted the CSS a total of $9,000 which pays for nearly half of the club tractor. We'll be talking more about the USHGF and how you can help them help our flying sites in coming months and we plan to get an article to the magazine this summer showing the work being done to improve what is already a world class LZ.

A Loader off our minds.

Rob McKenzie — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 08:32:18 -0600

Don't know where to start. Perhaps with thanks.

Tom Trevithick for loads of info on what type to look for and ideas on where to look. From him came the scoop on trying www.rbauction.com .

Then absolutely huge thanks to Gene Embree. He hopped on all the 28 auction skiploader/gannons in Phoenix this week and spent 10 minutes on each going through a series of physical and visual tests and gave verbal reports while I scribbled notes at a frantic pace to keep up with him.

CSS Elections

Rob McKenzie — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 10:54:58 -0600

Elections are coming up again. Anyone willing to accept any of the CSS offices are encouraged to contact me at by Jan 20th 2007 at the latest. Ballots will be mailed out by the end of January. Most years we see only a single name on the ballot for each office. Who knows, maybe one of these years we'll actually see a couple names to choose from on a ballot. Any CSS member who has been a member for at least 6 months is allowed to run for any office. Offices available are...

Fall Meeting 2006

Rob McKenzie — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 13:16:15 -0500

ANNOUNCING the FALL CSS GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING.
Location: Andy Jackson Airpark.
When: Saturday Oct 28th 2006, 5:30 PM
Agenda: Basic updates on finances, ranch, developers.
To add agenda items please email the topic to me at
Rob McKenzie

New CSS Vice President

Rob McKenzie — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 18:53:14 -0500

This spring the CSS membership voted to support the XC Ranch located on the north side of the Andy Jackson Airpark. The current owners of the Ranch are Owen Morse and Len Szafaryn. With Len as Vice President of the (non-profit) CSS it was unwise to immediately offer this support as it could appear to be a conflict of interest as far as the IRS is concerned. We know that the members have chosen this support and it has nothing to do with what Len wants, but others might see it defferently. To eliminate the chance of a perception of a conflict the Board has appointed a replacement for Vice President and will begin the Ranch support ASAP. The new VP is Mike Zeller.

Developments at the Ranch

Rob McKenzie — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 08:55:39 -0500

It was a great showing of pledges in response to the recent request to help the CSS buy the Ranch north of the LZ. However the 175K is only about 1/3 the amount needed.

A couple of the CSS members mentioned a method of purchasing an easement on a property called "Purchase of Development Rights" (PDR). There is a lot of information about this growing conservation oriented trend by googling "Purchase of Development Rights".