On Saturday afternoon in the ARES forum at Dayton Hamvention, two Ohio hams -- Section Emergency Coordinator Frank Piper, KI8GW, and District Seven Emergency Coordinator Steven Katz, N8WL -- received ARES Commendation certificates.

ARRL Ohio Section Manager Joe Phillips, K8QOE, said, "Frank and Steve pretty much salvaged a crippled ARES unit. About three years ago, one of the ARES units here in Ohio was pretty much falling apart. This disintegration grew so wide that these reached a couple of ham radio affiliated bulletin boards and many desks at Newington, and finally culminated in a five week flurry of e-mails and phone calls. Both Frank and Steve worked daily during this five week confrontation, dealing with many personalities and always knowing that any misstep they took could be damaging to an effective solution."

ARRL Emergency Preparedness and Response Manager Dennis Dura, K2DCD, applauded Piper's and Katz's efforts: "The final solution that both of these Ohio Section officials came up with will serve as a model for solving similar problems across the country and we will be stealing from the Ohio example." Phillips concurred, adding, "Many of you [here in the ARES Forum] have experienced similar problems in your Sections, but what Steve and Frank demonstrated was the patience to work through a problem while waiting for a solution that everyone eventually did accept."