This year's HamVention Flyer
This year's tickets...
Making progress...the awards have been printed for this
year's Gathering Of The Faithful!
On Saturday, May 6th Keith - WA8ZWJ loaded some stuff in
the van for the flea market.
On Friday, May 12th Fast Eddie - W8ED arrived to drop off
the beer fridge...
Here it is in place. Since Fast Eddie is the Flow
Manager of the IOOK, he points out the picture of Flo on the fridge!
Late Wednesday morning Bill - WZ1L arrived from the airport
after getting his rental car.
A short while later Bill and Keith - WA8ZWJ headed to Verona to pick up the pickup truck that had been loaned to the group to haul the floors to and from the flea market.
When we got back Fast Eddie was here dropping off the keg
and getting flow established!
Here's the pickup truck we borrowed...
Then, in the mid afternoon, we headed to Ed's place in Medway to load the floors.
Here's a look at Ed and Bill putting one of the floors on
top...
Keith, Randy - AB8CO and Ed are loading another one...
In the mean time, Bob - N0BIX was just crossing the Ohio
state line heading towards the Farley Flophouse South!
In the mean time, back in Medway...
Ed and Bill with one of the small ones...
Randy is helping Ed with the tie down procedure to keep the
floors going anywhere during travel.
Bill is taking a rest break after the floors are loaded!
When we got back to the Farley Flophouse Bob - N0BIX had
arrived!
Time to visit a spell...
Bill was getting a bit tired and decided to go check into
his hotel and rest a bit before dinner...
Bill was tired enough that he didn't make it to dinner...
Wednesday dinner was at Company 7 BBQ in Englewood.
Here is what Company 7 BBQ is all about...
Amen!
Debbie - KA3VNF and Tom - W3TOM
Marian - WD8CJD and Debbie
John - N5AAA and Jan - KA9VQS
Bob is showing John - N5AAA something on his camera.
Strange reflection on Bob's face from the menu.
Bob - N0BIX, John - N5AAA, Jan - KA9VQS, Marian - WD8CJD, Debbie - KA3VNF
and Tom - W3TOM
The back of Jan's shirt. Looks like it is time to
PAAARRRTY!
Loyd - K8EI picked up Charlie - NN3V at the airport about
the time we were in the middle of dinner.
Then they went to their hotel and checked in. Here's a shot of their new
digs for HamVention!
After dinner the other guys had tasks they needed to do so they got EX AB's from the net.
Here are Keith and Bob checking into the net...
Band conditions were poor and deteriorated mighty fast. EchoLink let us
chat a bit with Dave - W8TVC our net control.
Max - K1MAX has arrived!
A look at the Wednesday evening local APRS activity...
Some more visit time! This is the kind of thing that
makes all this special!
Here's some of the early crowd at Frisch's Big Boy in
Xenia...
L-R Randy - AB8CO, Jan - KA9VQS, John - N5AAA, Chas - AI0OK, Dave - K7DRM and
Joe - N8BYT
Some more of the gang...
L-R Fast Eddie - W8ED, Bill - WZ1L, Bob - N0BIX, Bruce - W6RBM, Charlie -
NN3V and Loyd - K8EI
Skip - N2FOE has joined the group!
Charlie and Loyd...
After breakfast we headed to the flea market. We had
to sit and wait an hour or more for the rain to stop.
Waiting out the rain...
A look at the rain cells on two different phone apps...
The rain has finally stopped and it is time to get set up!
John and Bruce begin working on putting together the
antenna and mast for the flea market repeater.
Keith must be telling a whopper!
We decide that it is a bit premature to put up the
antenna...
In the midst of setting up, Fast Eddie managed to catch a
few shots of some of the horses being exercised on the track.
The floors are down and the van is in place. Now it
is time to work on the canopy.
Fast Eddie pointed out a bird's nest in the fender well of
the pickup truck we have borrowed. Yes that is a blue egg.
Sam - WA8VIW is a Vice President of the IOOK but he spends
a lot of his time these days with the Mound group (MARA)!
Jan and John are helping Skip get his canopy in the air!
Skip is sharing the spaces that Tom - W3TOM made arrangements
for right next to the IOOK spaces.
Canopy progress...
They are getting the job done there!
Making progress...
Notice the short part of the frame is towards the back and
the long part is to the front? That is an OOPS!
Things won't line up properly that way!
Notice that the pole John is holding is in the middle of
the van. It should be in front of the van! UGH!
Bob has uploaded a YouTube video of us turning the canopy around.
Here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aO97mXE7v_M&feature=youtu.be
We have turned and frame around and are moving the tarp
closer to the front as is should be to protect the items on the tables.
John is looking for something in the red tub...
Skip has his canopy up and is beginning to sell things on
THURSDAY! Way to go Skip!
Not only is the canopy in place but the antenna and IOOK
flag are up as well!
R&R time...
Group picture of our combined set up crews! Well done
guys and gal! Thank you!
On our way out we saw Butch - WD8EOL setting up their
space...
Keith, Bob, Charlie and Loyd stopped at the Skyline Chili
in Englewood for a late lunch.
Then the four of us headed to the grocery to pick up the
stuff for our lunches...
The groceries are loaded!
Back at the Farley Flophouse Charlie is enjoying a cold
beer!
Time to slice the onions!
Jim - W5JCS and Tom - W3TOM at Contest University
N0BIXie spent some time this afternoon visiting with the
Hartman's at their camp site.
This is Tom and Debbie's motor coach.
As you can see, John and Jan's is beside Tom and Debbie's.
Here are Jan and John!
Some visit time on the back porch before dinner...
Bob, Charlie, Loyd and Bill...
Time for dinner!
The early gang at the Toll House Tavern!
L-R this side of the table are Chas - AI0OK, Dave - W8TVC and Mike -
K8LMJ. On the back side of the table are Jan - KA9VQS, John - N5AAA, Max -
K1MAX and Chuck - N8ADN.
Ron - NA6RS has arrived!
Here are Bruce - W6RBM, Wil - WB5YFX and Gail...
Chuck - N8ADN and Marian - WD8CJD are visiting...
Group photo!
Our miracle boy, Jim - W5JCS has arrived with his friend
Darrel - WA3OPY!
Fast Eddie - W8ED has joined Jim and Darrel.
Fast Eddie and Loyd are chatting...
Gail, Wil, and Bill...
Chas, Jim and Keith
Lew - KC4US and Miriam have arrived!
Lew and Max go WAAAAY back!
Ron and Charlie are having some special time!
The maroon van is loaded with stuff dropped off during
dinner to go to the flea market tomorrow...
After dinner visit time with Bob, Dave and Mike...
Bill, Fast Eddie and Marian - WD8CJD...
Bill and Keith
Dave and Mike
Fast Eddie is checking the inside temperature of the
fridge...
Marian - WD8CJD
Her shirt says "There are two means of refuge from the misery of
life...Music and Cats" - Albert Schweitzer
Bob went for a walk during our back porch visit session.
Here are some shots he took during his evening walk.
Here's the early gang at breakfast Friday morning!
Bruce - K8CJM and Bruce - W6RBM
Bill - WZ1L and Chas - AI0OK
Ron - NA6RS and Randy - AB8CO
Jim - WB8VSU and Joe - N8BYT
Loyd - K8EI and Charlie - NN3V
Skip - N2FOE and Keith - WA8ZWJ
Dave - K7DRM
Tom - W3TOM and Skip
Debbie - KA3VNF
We ran into gridlock Friday morning on the way to the flea
market after breakfast. That slowed us down to a creep and crawl for some
time!
Joe is reattaching the tie down after we lifted the support
pole out of the way to put the carpet down.
We are set up and selling!
While we were getting things set up Bob - N0BIX was
experiencing gridlock on his way into town.
Here is Tom and Skip's place set up and selling!
Joe - N8BYT, Max - K1MAX and Jim - WB8VSU.
Jim has a VERY low resistance to mold so he is wearing the mask because of
all the rain we have gotten.
Chas - AI0OK taking a load off his feet...
Bob - N0BIX!
Meanwhile next door...
John - N5AAA and Jan - KA9VQS
Two brothers - Max - K1MAX and Larry - K9XA
Here are some shots that Charlie - NN3V took while in the
commercial vendor area...
Stan - N5JFQ
In the mean time, Bob - N0BIX went up into the grandstands
and took a series of shots that turned into this panorama of the flea market!
Stan and Jim - W5JCS
Stan - N5JFQ says "Bob and Jim meeting at the Heil
booth in hall 5 which I believe may have been named Watts Hall."
These are from Charlie's visit inside...
Chuck - N8ADN
Stan says "The IOOK flea market tables are open for
business Friday morning.
Notice how green and clean the grass is in the isle. It rained
later on Friday and again Saturday morning and late afternoon."
John and Jan visit with Tom and Debbie...
Hammy!
John - KD8AIZ
Ah, the lunch chef begins his task! Charlie - NN3V!
Mike - K8LMJ and Dave - W8TVC
Stan says "Friday lunch, master chef Charlie preps
"Persimmons on the Veranda."
Fast Eddie took a walk and found the MARA Booth.
Here's Sam's pickup!
And here's Sam!
John - W9KD
Max is getting his lunch!
Our friend of many years who used to be across from us at
Hara Arena!
In the mean time, N0BIXie headed back to the Farley
Flophouse South and took a walk.
Hmm, looks like Bob got caught out in the rain during his
walk!
Yep! It is coming down now!
Tom and Jim
Fast Eddie took a walk and snapped these shots of the
commercial vendor area...
Leave it to Fast Eddie to find the beer booth!
Fast Eddie also found Bill - WZ1L taking a load off his
feet!
Tom - W5KUB broadcasting...
Glenn - W8AK at his booth with P&R Communications!
Stan says "Also in hall 5 is the W5KUB internet streaming booth of the
HamVention.
Tom is interviewing KK6EK about their Heard Island adventure."
John - W8RXX and Laura - KA8IWB - John is the OO
Coordination for Ohio.
Mac - K2GKK
Spinning wheels in the booth - Joe, Charlie, Chas and Loyd.
Fast Eddie also caught Wil - WB5YFX catching up on some
reading...
Here's a guy playing the steel drum...
Here's Edward - KD5JUM
Bruce - W6RBM
Loyd is answering questions about an item he is trying to
sell.
Tom - WB8MVR and Fast Eddie - W8ED
This guy has a bunch of guitars to sell and he was
entertaining those who were within earshot!
Stan says "So on their way back to the hotel on Friday Jim, W5JCS, and Stan drove by the old venue to see what's left of the Hara Arena.
Sure enough all of the buildings are still standing but they look real ragged and the weeds are starting to reclaim the parking lot."
We closed things up a bit early Friday evening because of a
rain storm that was on it's way.
Home again, home again, jiggidy jig!
Folks are arriving for the 36th Gathering Of The Faithful!
Here's what APRS looked like that evening...
Chas - AI0OK had a surprise for the IOOK!
The first one was given to Marian - WD8CJD!
It is a specially made mug with the IOOK logo on it!
Pretty neat, eh?
Everybody gets one!
Dave - W8TVC is preparing the brats!
Fast Eddie - W8ED, Mike - K8LMJ and Lee - WA8MSD...
Vicki, Jan and Marilyn...
Stan, Liz and Jim...
Stan says "At the annual Gathering of the Faithful one
can see old pictures in Marian's kitchen of previous Gatherings.
Stan sent this pic of a pic to Aaron and Micheal to let them they were missed
this year."
Tom is enjoying his dinner...
"Welcome to the 36th Annual Gathering Of The
Faithful!"
Stan says "Attention on the deck! The annual meeting is hereby called
to order and we will begin by lighting the memorial candle."
Loyd - K8EI starts things off with the Candle Lighting
Ceremony...
Mike - K8LMJ is lighting the candle...
Charlie and John received Honorable Mention Awards for
their 20 Meter Check Ins.
Max and Bob received Honorable Mention Awards
Bob received an Honorable Mention Award.
Marilyn recognizes all that Marian does for the Annual
Gathering Of The Faithful!
Bob presents the "Hat Of Two Lifetimes Award"
Lew - KC4US is being inducted into the IOOK Hall Of Fame by
last year's recipient, Dave - W8TVC
Congratulations Lew!
A while back Bob - N0BIX sent out an IOOK logo for the Apple watch to several of the guys.
Shown below are Bob, Chas and Mike - the current members of the fraternity.
W6KJ also had an IOOK watch but the space is there in his memory.
RIP Ron!
Early breakfast...Here are Bill - WZ1L and Chas - AI0OK
Charlie - NN3V and John - N5AAA
Tom - W3TOM
Debbie - KA3VNF
Dave - K7DRM and Loyd - K8EI
Ron - NA6RS and Keith - WA8ZWJ
Jim - WB8VSU
Joe - N8BYT
Tom and Skip are set up and selling!
We are set up and selling too! Notice Flat KBob in
the background?
Bruce - W6RBM and Dave - WB8RRQ
Stan says "Saturday morning starts out cloudy but at the moment dry.
The HamVention folks used several new food vendors at the new site this year including numerous food trucks of many varieties.
Here a vendor is making homemade ice cream with a functional antique gas engine, a John Deere one cylinder, that can simultaneously turn two buckets."
Stan says "Liz saw that the homemade ice cream truck had root beer floats with A&W Root Beer."
Lew - KC4US and a couple of other guys trying to negotiate
the flea market without getting into the mud.
The guys are comparing data on their smart phones trying to
decide when the rain will begin.
Before long we hear thunder in the distance...
Yep, the rain has arrived!
Staying out of the rain...
Here's a rain shot that Jim - W5JCS took...
Rain water is collecting on top of the plastic...
Yay! The rain has stopped!
Stan has a caption for this one. He says "The Saturday morning rain was a real drencher, but shortly afterwards the IOOK booth is preparing to reopen as Stan gestures,
"Hey, we're still in business, come in and look."
Man! Things are looking kind of muddy!
Using the Bobcat to get him unstuck.
This picture says a lot!
After the rain quits Sam - WA8VIW stops by for a visit.
Sam and Keith go WAY back. They first met in the late 60's.
"Persimmons are being served on the
veranda!" Charlie enjoys some of his lunch cuisine!
In the mean time, Bob - N0BIX has gone to West Milton to
meet up with the girls at lunch.
Jan, Jan - KA9VQS and Marian - WD8CJD
Then Bob took a walk in a nearby park. Here are some
shots from his walk.
Meanwhile - back at HamVention!
Chuck - N8ADN and family!
Stan says "About 10:15 am Saturday a thunderstorm blew in and drenched the ground again.
Here Chuck's clan came well prepared for the wet, muddy fairgrounds."
Stan says "A close-up of their rubber boots and the
now muddy grass infield of the race track where the flea market is now held."
Charlie ventures back inside for a while...
Randy - KA0AZS
Larry - K9XA Larry has just told us that his brother
Max - K1MAX headed towards home earlier this morning!
That explains why we had not seen Max!
Charlie says it is that a way!
Stan says "A view of the flea market from a small
observation tower in the infield. Note that there were additional food
vendors and picnic tables in the flea market area since it is a long walk to the
main food court."
Stan says "Another view of the flea market that shows the muddy
aisles.
There was another rain shower after this photo was taken creating worse muddy conditions."
Stan says "OK one more pic of the flea market; you can see the IOOK flag if you zoom in on the center of the photo and look just right of the light pole. The point here is the IOOK booth is far from the main buildings and a really long walk to the main parking lot."
Charlie and Joe visit while Ed checks to see when more rain
will arrive.
Bruce - W6RBM and his son-in-law Nathan - KE8GAC.
Nathan is a newly licensed ham! Congratulations!
Even though it is level ground that van is stuck and cannot
move!
We learned that another storm was approaching and closed down our sales area
earlier than originally anticipated.
It turned out to be a good thing because we drove through a bunch of heavy rain on our way to dinner.
Miriam and Lew
Joe, our waitress and Keith
Stan - N5JFQ is having some fun...with Keith and Marian
Guess who is with John and Jan!
John, Jan, Joe and Keith
Bob - N0BIX at Rob's...
Linda - WD8BYX with Marian and Keith
Tom and Debbie
Mike, Marilyn (Randy's XYL) and Dave
Liz and Stan
Jim, Randy and Chas
Keith, Loyd and Linda
Miriam, our waitress and Lew
Keith presents Linda with the note pad and mug from the
Gathering
Liz and Jan
Jim - W5JCS was quite tired after a busy day at HamVention and he told Stan he would not be attending dinner.
Since his motel is quite close by Keith called him and
asked him to at least come over for a short visit which he did! Thanks
Jim!
Loyd, Tom, Keith Joe, Jan and John as we leave Rob's!
Mike and Bill heading out as well!
After dinner Keith and Loyd move the stuff of Loyd's that
did not sell into his car from the van.
Yes, Keith actually won one of the hourly door prizes at
HamVention!
Probably the most notable item in the bag was the Power
Pole Crimp Tool!
Muddy shoes from the aftermath of the Xenia Mud Fest!
Yes, Keith's van brought home some of the mud as well!
Breakfast time again...
Dave - K7DRM and Chas - AI0OK
Ron - NA6RS and Keith - WA8ZWJ
John - N5AAA and Joe - N8BYT
Jim - WB8VSU
If you look carefully out the windows you can see that it is raining once
again!
That helped us make the decision to tear things down rather than try to sell at the Xenia Mud Fest today!
Debbie - KA3VNF and Tom - W3TOM
When we got to the flea market we discovered that Tom and Skip's flea market neighbors had left some chair floor mats for us in front of our booths.
We decided to use some of them to make it easier to get
across the mud from one side of the aisle to the other.
They did help us from getting quite muddy!
The tables have been loaded into Keith's maroon van.
A short rest break before stage two of the process.
The silver van had been packed as a warehouse and could not be driven with the way things were piled in there.
So we moved some of the equipment into the maroon van as
well.
The guys are checking data to see if we are going to get
rained on while packing up the rest of the stuff.
The silver van is ready to travel.
John and Joe are taking apart the antenna set up.
Randy - AB8CO has arrived to help with the tear down.
We moved the canopy to a grassy area and began to dismantle
it.
Taking the bungee straps off the tarp...
Ron is cutting the tie wraps...
Organizing the support and frame poles...
Sam - WA8VIW stopped by for a short visit while we were
taking things apart...
Loading the floors onto the borrowed pickup truck.
Yee haw! The floors are loaded! Ron and Ed are
doing some fine tuning on the stacking.
Fast Eddie, Ron, Bruce and Randy went to Fast Eddie's to unload the floors.
John drove Keith's maroon van while Keith drove his silver van towards home.
Bob was just heading out for a late breakfast when Keith and John arrived at the Farley Flophouse South.
Here's Bob's breakfast!
Joe, John and Keith unloaded the sales items onto the floor
of the garage because it will have to be sorted and packed more carefully for
future travel.
R&R time on the back porch at the Farley Flophouse
South!
Lew, Ron and Bob
A short while later Keith and Joe are settling up Joe's
cash from sales at HamVention while John is working on Keith's APRS station.
Later in the day Fast Eddie and Keith played with the APRS set up and got it
working.
Joe's cash...
A short while later Keith makes an announcement on the repeater that will be a first for all HamVentions.
"Persimmons are being self served on the veranda of
the Farley Flophouse South"
Lunch time!
John is fixing his lunch.
Keith and Joe are enjoying their lunch.
John is enjoying his lunch while Lew and Ron decide to pass
on lunch.
In the mean time Bill - WZ1L had gone to HamVention to check out the last minutes stuff and listen to the prize drawings.
He caught a photo of Loyd - K8EI at Tom - W5KUB's booth.
Bill says "Hey Keith! Look who got photobombed at Tom
Medlin's Booth at HAMVENTION."
On June 17th Bill sent an e-mail saying that the above photo was actually taken Saturday afternoon not Sunday!
Back at the Farley Flophouse South...
Even though Charlie - NN3V headed home today his beer glass
remains on top of the beer fridge!
Wish you were here Charlie!
John and Jan head back to their camp site.
Bob goes out for another walk...
The group is gathering at Marion's Piazza for dinner.
Bob got a couple of group shots as they went inside.
Bob, Tom, Jan, John and Jan...
Tom, Jan, Skip, Jan and John
Bill
Dave
Lew and Miriam
Keith learned this evening that Lew and Miriam had celebrated their 65th
anniversary this year! Congratulations!
Joe, Bruce and Joe's XYL, Barbara
Bruce's XYL, Sharon, Marian and Keith
Fast Eddie's family has arrived!
The twins will graduate from High School this year.
Lots of great visiting going on!
Dinner at Marion's Piazza is over! Needless to say, we all managed to get all fed up!
Bob took an after dinner walk. Here is an interesting
cloud formation.
Some more interesting clouds...
Keith is copying pictures from an assortment of sources to
prepare for the making of this web page.
Sometime Sunday evening Charlie posted this picture of
himself at home. He said he was glad to be out of the mud!
Breakfast was at Rob's.
As folks begin to travel towards their next destination the
smart phones come out...
Well, the breakfast portions of the breakfasts were incredible! We all managed to get all fed up!
Clean shoes and clean pants! Look Ma, no mud!
Bob is once again nearing the Ohio state line - this time
heading west towards home!
As the sign says "Come back soon!"
These are the cash envelopes that have yet to be settled up
with the sellers.
Keith will get around to that later this week.
Fast Eddie stopped by after breakfast to pick up the beer
fridge and keg.
He estimated that there was maybe a gallon or so of beer left in the keg.
Sometime late Monday Charlie sent along this photo of his
ham shack.
He says he will be off the air for a while while he sets up his new station.
Here's the Post HamVention 2017 Note that I sent out
Monday.
OK! So if you took the time to carefully look at each of the photos you have digested over 480 snap shots!
I want to thank all of the photo contributors! They are: AB8CO, N0BIX, N5JFQ, NN3V, W5JCS, W8ED and WA8ZWJ!
Other than getting back into my daily gym routine, I have spent a great deal of time each day since HamVention
working on the photos and this web page.
One thing I plan to change for next year, if Tom wants spaces beside ours again, is to put our vehicles on the ends
rather than in the middle. Even though we were beside each other we were separated.
According to a newscast I saw Monday evening, over 300 vehicles had to be towed out of the mud.
Judging from the comments I have heard from many of the attendees, one of the biggest problems with the new venue,
besides the mud, is the large amount of walking required to take everything in.
I don't think there is much they can do about that obstacle.
If any of you see any mistakes in the chronology or captions on any of the photos, please let me know.
Respectfully submitted by Keith - WA8ZWJ
