Wait for it…Wait… Where is Spring??? The Sun and warm! HURRY UP! That is the general feeling. Nice days but cold and rainy days warm. Wait for it.
I got some club visits in this month and am VERY happy to say that I am seeing some growth in attendance and in memberships. There was a number of new hams present as well. One highlight was the Quaboag Valley ARC. There was not a chair to be found. The town’s fire chief was there and very interested in ham radio in his department. Best of all was one ham GAVE a new ham a Yaesu FT DX 1200 radio in mint condition. He simply was not using it. Surely that is inspiration and incentive to get that extra in record time! Well done Quaboag. That is mentoring at it’s best! I can honestly say all club’s practicing mentoring is starting to reap rewards. Between the league, myself and others to promote it, is starting to pay off. The challenge….STAY WITH IT!
With April pretty much here the big talk around town is April 8 with the total eclipse event. There are some communities that are planning and getting ready for traffic and parking issues and other things that may have the potential to create a strain on their infrastructure. There will be a number of ham activities including a QSO party, Ham-Sci has some projects taking place and some others I am not aware of. Just be safe out there.
In the middle of the month on the 15th is the annual Boston Marathon. Approximately 300 hams from all around will be there to assist like they have been for many years. Hopefully it will be a smooth, incident free event and everyone will have fun. I volunteered for a net control position but I couldn’t break that force field, so I’ll be in transportation again.
The end of the month is the 2 day Near-Fest which is on the 25th and 26th. Yes, Thursday and Friday. A schedule error caused this and hopefully will be the only one. So, if you can, come on up Thursday and support this great hamfest. If not, see you Friday.
So, as you can see why we need that sunshine and warmth. Lot’s going on. I have a couple of antennas to work on and am sure you do too. The bands have been really hopping lately and I hope you are taking advantage of it, for your logs as well as showing ham radio and getting the new hams on the air.
Hope to see you out there in some fashion!
73,
Ray AA1SE