Welcome
High Gear 101
Writing High Gear on occasion should not be a daunting task. If you enjoy observing human behavior and can make notes of information of interest to your fellow Club members, you can relax with the knowledge that there is no such thing as a high bar that you need to jump over to do the job well.
At its most basic, High Gear records important Club decisions, recognizes club members for assorted reasons, and sets down important Club dates for future reference. Any observations about what happened in the meeting is entirely optional and a welcome addition to the basic task.
So, breaking it down.
Section 1: Opening paragraph: entirely free form but you can comment on the weather, note the attendance and mood of the group, relay comments make in the pre-meeting which runs from 11:45 to 12:00 p.m., or make any other observation you want to make.
Section 2: This section usually contains the call to order, number in attendance including the names of guests and prospective new members, the leaders of the pledge and the invocation, and the initial comments made by the President. It can include Caring Moments and other club business. (Usually a couple of paragraphs).
Section 3: Announcements – The president will provide you prior to the meeting a list of announcements she/he is planning to make. There may be others brought up in the meeting. Just be sure that you record the correct dates and times and locations. This section can be a simple list or contain observations on the announcements as you feel comfortable.
Section 4: Our guest speaker or other use of the meeting time. Introduce the speaker and his/her topic and briefly summarize the main points being made. If a club assembly with no speaker, just summarize the discussion and any action items that come out of it. No need to obsess about being comprehensive here. The jest of the discussion will do.
Section 5: your sign-off – name along with a salutation “that’s it for this week” or “until next week on Zoom” or whatever suits your fancy.
That is it. That is the basic outline. Once you have mastered it, feel free to deviate from it. I’ll keep you from going off the rails. But do not be afraid to add your observations and show a bit of your personality.
Follow up after writing the copy:
- Send it to me at dougwillett96@gmail.com and to George Schoen at pgaschoen179@yahoo.com.
- I will edit it and correct any spelling and grammatical errors (18 years as an English teacher) I will delete any comments that sound mean or unfair. Our objective is to build positive feeling. A bit of kidding is okay, but on a rare occasion, we need to pull it back in.
- I will then put the edited copy into our Clubrunner software and produce the final High Gear product. This will include captions for each section and photographs from the club photographer, clip art or photos from our photo library. If you wish to take a photo with your phone, please send it to me for inclusion.
- Your copy is due to me on Thursday or Friday at the latest. I will publish the completed High Gear shortly thereafter. Any questions, email me, text me, or call me. 860-908- 2657.
Have fun and thank you for your service to the Club.
Doug Willett, High Gear Committee