It is time for another round of elections for the Board of Directors of HMGS Great Lakes. Board members serve staggered terms of three years. This year, three spots on the board are up for election. Terms of office will begin in January 1, 2005.

There are two ways to vote, this year: Paper Ballot and E-Mail Voting.

Paper Ballot

If you wish to use a Paper Ballot, simply photocopy the ballot on the next page. Fill in your personal information (those with no signature or personal information will not be counted), mark your vote for up to three candidates, and mail it to Elections Officer Steve Sattler, 933 Cogswell St., Westerville, OH 43081. Ballots must be received by Nov. 30, 2004.

E-Mail Voting

If you wish to use E-Mail Voting, there are two, distinct steps to ensure security.

Step 1: E-mail Membership Secretary David K. van Hoose at: davidkvh@aol.com by Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2004 (Election Day -- when you will be voting for President of the United States). This is to confirm your e-mail address that you will be sending your electronic vote from. The Secretary may take steps to confirm that you are actually who you say you are, at his discretion. Only those who have confirmed their e-mail addresses with the Membership Secretary are eligible to use E-Mail Voting. The Membership Secretary will then provide the Elections Officer with a list of members who may participate in E-Mail Voting and their valid e-mail addresses.

Step 2: E-mail our Elections Officer Steve Sattler at stephensattler@yahoo.com with the same information that would appear on the Paper Ballot (see next page) along with your vote(s). This e-mail must come from the address that you confirmed with the Membership Secretary in step one, above. All votes must be received by Nov. 30, 2004. Candidates

The following members (listed alphabetically, below) have expressed their interest in running for the three seats that will open up this coming year on the Board of Directors. Their bios are given below. As always, Write-In Candidates are permitted, too.

• David K. van Hoose (Incumbent)
• Douglas W. Johnson (Incumbent)
• Jack E. Shaw, Sr. (Incumbent)
• Tusk Stevens

Ombudsman

If you have any questions or problems with this process, the editor, Mike Demana, will be serving as Election Ombudsman. Contact him as soon as possible, using the information on the inside front cover.

David K. van Hoose

Membership Director, HMGS Great Lakes, joined the chapter in May of 1996. David was elected to the HMGS Great Lakes Board of Directors in December of 1999 and appointed to the role of vice Chairman by the current Chairman, Jack Shaw. David filled the role of vice Chairman from January 2000 to November 2003; then took on the role of Membership Director, which he has filled to the present. As the director, David has:

• built a new membership database
• posted a monthly a listing of active members
• sent reminder messages to members whose membership is expiring or has expired
• collected updated information for our new membership directory to be publish December, 2004.

Also, David was the convention and event director for our flagship convention, Advance the Colors, during the years of 2000 to 2002. Plus, David was the leading force behind getting the funding for the creation www.HMGSGL.com web site.

Before his election to the HMGS Great Lakes board, David was the leading force behind scheduling events in the Frankfurt, Germany, War Gamers Club between 1989 and 1993; currently he is keeping this group going by managing a internet mail list for past members. Since 1998, David has been the Webmaster for Piquet, Inc., and the Webmaster of the PK Gamers website. David is also a member in good standing of HMGS Mid-South, NHMGS and a past member of HMGS East.

Other elected hobby positions he has held include President of The Citadel Historical Miniatures Club; 1979 to 1981. He was also a Battery Commander in The Citadel Civil War reenactment group and a member of the Brunswick Lieb Battalion -- a German reenactment group in Frankfurt, Germany. David was also a founding member of the Lake Braddock Wargaming Club and was its President between 1976 and 1977.

David has been in the Historical Miniature Gaming hobby since 1978 when he was first introduced to it at The Citadel. The first Army he painted was a Prussia 1815 force for the Empire II system. Since then, he has expanded to a number of different periods and scales. His first two major gaming conventions attended were Cold Wars 1986 and Historicon 1986. While living in Europe, he attended at least four conventions a year, two of which were in England. Since moving to the Midwest in 1993, David has only missed two Advance the Colors conventions and has attended Drums twice.

Born in Ashland, KY, in 1959, David earned a Bachelor of Science degree from The Citadel in 1981. He is a Regional Project Manager with EDS, and has supported the Department of Defense in many different roles since 1983. He and his wife, Linda, have three children, Amanda, Elizabeth and Matthew.

Douglas W. Johnson

Presently serving on the Board of Directors, Great Lakes. Married 30 years, two children. Auto technician, German-Volvo only (independent shop).

My term as a member of the Great Lakes Board ends this year. I have enjoyed doing what I can to promote historical gaming. These past three years have been very rewarding for me and I wish to continue to help our organization grow. I've been involved in many special projects that I feel have helped or improved our group. In 2002, I compiled a Members Survey to learn more about who we are. I also helped with our demo events at the Hayes Center to promote our hobby during the Civil War Encampment. I run demo games or man the HMGS-GL Hospitality Table at Ft. Meigs or the Wolcott House Museum Complex. I think my best efforts are working on the Drums Staff. It isn't necessary to be on the Board to help at Drums, but I feel it is important to have a Board member involved in the convention planning.

If returned to the Board, I will continue my work to improve Great Lakes.

Jack E. Shaw, Sr.

My name is Jack Shaw, and I am running for re-election to the Board of Directors. During the past five years of serving on the Board, I have held the Chairman's position, been interim treasurer, and am agent for the corporation. I work with the membership secretary and newsletter editor on membership and renewals. I am also keeper of the Chapter's debit card.

I have been fortunate to meet some fantastic Great Lakes members. We now have four great conventions: Drums Along the Maumee in Toledo, OH; Warband and Warparty in Cincinnati, OH; and Advance the Colors in Springfield, OH. I would like the opportunity to continue to serve on the Board of Directors on your behalf.

I have been in wargaming for 15 years and I am a member of Wayne's Legion Historical Gamers and Greater Dayton Wargamer's Club. I have run games at Drums Along the Maumee, Advance the Colors, Warparty and Warband, CAPCON, and Origins, plus games at the Soldiery Dayton, and the Tin Soldier. If elected, I'll continue to serve the members of Great Lakes to the best of my ability.

Tusk Stevens

I have been playing wargames for 30 years. I started with Chainmail (TSR). From there, I went on and played a lot of D&D. I've run miniature events at local conventions and Gen Con. I served on the board with Cincinnati Area Gamers and helped produce Tri-State-Con. I also served as president with Kobold Gamers and put on Cabin Fever Con which increased the club treasury 200%. I worked with a prototype company that helped produce miniatures and dice for wargames. I was also the operations director for TRI Designs which produced miniature buildings for wargames.

Most recently, I am the author of Tomahawk Wars, a game dealing with the American Indian wars. It has made its appearance for the last two years at Origins, Warparty, Warband and Advance the Colors. I also received the 3rd place award in the historical category at Origins Artists Colony 2004. Currently, I am working as an artist helping others develop their own games. I am also studying miniature sculpture. My goal is to increase the visual impact of wargames and to bring high quality art to the wargaming community.

If there were one reason to vote for me it would be: "Hey Guys, you know I will do the work!"