posted 9/9/19
This will be a perspective of the Findlay Hamfest 2019 from Keith - WA8ZWJ's point of view!
Here is the flyer from the hamfest that was sent out via e-mail a few days before the event.
Did you notice that this was the 77th year for the Findlay Hamfest?
Saturday, 9/7/19
Marian - WD8CJD and I headed north towards Findlay late Saturday morning.
We used a different hotel this year because the one we usually use had all the rooms booked up.
The first thing we did upon our arrival in Findlay was
check into our hotel.
Then we made a trip to the fairgrounds just to check things out.
Then we made a stop at one of the places where Marian likes
to shop while we are in Findlay.
We shopped at a few other places while we were out and about. Then we went back to the hotel and spent some time in the pool.
Then I dropped Marian off at church so she could attend Mass. When I picked her up an hour later we went to dinner at a favorite Mexican restaurant of ours.
After dinner we did some more shopping.
Then we went back to the motel for the evening.
Here's a look out our window just after sunset.
Sunday, 9/8/19
We were up and out of the hotel early the next morning. We arrived at the hamfest around 6:15 AM! We managed to secure a great set of spaces and saved a space for Glenn - W8AK and Audrey - KC8DTM.
Glenn and Audrey arrived around 7:15 AM. Here's a
group shot of us!
L-R Flat KBob, Glenn - W8AK, Audrey - KC8DTM, Marian - WD8CJD and Keith -
WA8ZWJ
If you look carefully between KBob's head and Glenn's head you can see a balloon.
I had given Marian the balloon because it was her birthday! Happy Birthday Marian!
A while later I got to visit with Rob - KV8P!
He asked me to be sure and pass along his best wishes to the IOOK and was
sorry he hasn't been on any of the nets for quite sometime!
I caught a moment without shoppers to get a photo of Glenn
minding his store and Audrey and Marian catching up.
Look carefully and you will see the balloon between the back door and van.
I took a few minutes to go out and get a few shots of the
flea market areas.
This is where the announcer is located as well as the drum
for the hourly prizes.
Here are more flea market spaces...
Look at all the Collins gear these folks have to sell!
This year there was only one building open. Here are
a few looks inside!
More flea market spaces...
Glenn is minding his store and the gals are still visiting
beside the van.
Now Glenn has gone for a walk around and Audrey and Marian
are visiting in the back of Audrey's car.
Here is Stu - K8ST!
Jim - WB8VSU has arrived!
Here's Jim - WB8JIM!
Here's Mark - N8ME!
As the hamfest was gearing down Jim - WB8VSU came back to
our space and hung out with us.
You can see the birthday balloon really well in this shot!
Jim hung around and helped me get stuff back into the van when I was time to pack up.
That was mighty thoughtful of Jim and it helped out a lot!
After Marian and I heard the results of the final drawings for the grand prizes we headed off for lunch at another favorite restaurant of ours that features an all-you-can-eat salad bar and pizza buffet!
We considered this our "lupper"! That means lunch and supper combined!
And, as you can well imagine, we did get all fed up!
We had a great time and the weather cooperated VERY well!
We also sold very well.
In my humble opinion the attendance was down a bit from former years, but, obviously it was a LOT better than last year because of all the rain last year!
Until the next time BEST WISHES to all!
73!
Respectfully submitted by Keith - WA8ZWJ!
