NWI CHAPTER
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
May 2026 from
Jerry Pyfer

NWI March Meeting
The NWI March meeting was well received. I shared my experience with scanning and cleaning slides and photographs with the many challenges they present. Several folks added to the conversation. We hosted 19 in-person and 14 Zoom guests for the afternoon.

Annual Meeting Report of sorts
As you may recall, our 2025 Annual Meeting was delayed on account of the big snow storm over Thanksgiving weekend. The meeting was hastily rescheduled during the Holiday Party on Sunday December 12th.

Our By-laws require the Annual Meeting to be conducted during the November NWI chapter meeting. Here we discuss the chapter roles, financial reports and when scheduled, the election of chapter officers, which will come this November.

November is however, the most unstable month for reporting the state of this chapter. We are in the midst of renewals, in the midst of changing membership standings and when the financial records are the most incomplete.

Last year, a Board of Director suggested we consider changing the Annual meeting to another month, with April getting a recommendation. We would not be the only chapter holding an annual meeting that month. But the chapter’s anniversary is still in November. Thus, do we keep the events together?

This is your chapter, I welcome your thoughts.

NWI Chapter Report 2025
Since the close of our renewal season, here are some results of the state of the chapter.

We currently have 48 NRHS members, we have 49 subscribers to the North Western Limited newsletter. We mail out four exchange newsletters with other chapters.

Our combined roles actually gained one over 2025. This year six associates failed to renew their dues.

On occasion, I have used the term, chapter associates. This addresses three categories of NWI chapter associates.

First we have the NRHS members. NRHS members are truly chapter members as described by our bylaws. They enjoy all chapter activities and are welcome to participate in chapter business.

Subscribers to the North Western Limited newsletter are welcome to participate in chapter activities but are not allowed to participate in chapter business.

We also have one special associate. Many years ago, the NWI chapter Board of Directors voted to install Mike Schafer with a lifetime membership by automatically taking care of his chapter dues. Since that time, Mike is no longer an NRHS member, thus making him a subscriber. This was in appreciation for his involvement in leading the organization and chartering the chapter with the NRHS in 1969. This was accomplished with the assistance of Jim Boyd.

As for our chapter finances, the chapter checking stands at $2,307.41. The chapter savings account stands at $6,086.52.

The Holiday Party placed a drain on the checking account to the tune of a $475 overrun versus receipts. This will be addressed before any future parties. Some folks have contributed towards a fund to assist with expenses in 2026. We will also use lessons learned from 2025’s party costs and analysis’. Generally, all of those attending expressed a desire to hold another party in 2026. Let’s hope the temperatures will be a little warmer.

We experimented with Zoom back when Covid-19 shutdown the country. I learned from Mike Yuhas, then Wisconsin Chapter president, the value of hosting Zoom presentations. Zoom is not free to me. To host chapter meetings via Zoom, I bare the annual expense, which is not a heavy burden on me. I am not asking the chapter to foot that expense.

I wish to thank all of our returning members and subscribers. I would hope the chapter has made your association worthwhile. If we can improve anything, please let us know.

NWI Equipment Purge
Several chapter items are still lounging in my basement. These are items we used for slide shows that more than likely will not be used again.

We will keep the Kodak Ektagraphic III slide projectors in the event a presenter wishes to share traditional slides.

This is a mix of chapter and my own equipment. All proceeds will go toward the Holiday Party fund for 2026.

At this point, we have no takers.

For more information about the Chapter, see Meetings and Join.