Howdy IOOK!
On Saturday, March 19, 2005
I attended the 2005 Great Lakes Division Convention in Toledo, Ohio.
I was happy to see that I was not the only IOOK’er to show up for the
convention. Riley, K4ZDH and Rick, KK8O were in attendance as well!
After opening
ceremonies and information, Riley was the first to speak (see photo).
He told about a number of enforcement items that are in the process at
this time and answered questions from the audience.
There followed a number of other interesting seminars, which took up the
remainder of the afternoon. The
final session of the afternoon was an awards ceremony.
Among those receiving awards were Hank (N8XX) (see photo) whom some of
you may know as well as a friend of WB8VSU’s from Kentucky (see photo).
Ron (W8ILC), a fellow Datonian was also presented with an award (see
photo).
Before the convention banquet that evening, I had a delightful informal visit with Riley (see photo). One of the more animated items of our discussion was the series of debacles surrounding the erection of NN3V’s tower and antenna. It was quite obvious that Riley had followed the updates on the web page with interest!
During the banquet I had the pleasure to sit with Rick (KK8O)
and his wife, Coreen (W8COR) (see photo). During Riley’s address as
featured speaker for the banquet, he spoke about “Ham Radio and the F.C.C.;
Our Future Together” and included his hopes that ham radio would last 1,000
years and what WE (ham radio operators) might do to make it so.
He also emphasized the importance of the ham radio community presenting a
positive image and how important recruitment of new operators, young and old,
are to the survival of ham radio.
Following Riley’s address, he was awarded a token of appreciation from the convention committee (see photo). After the banquet, Riley also participated in the “Royal Order of the Wouff Hong” ceremony – a ceremony that has been a part of the A.R.R.L. since 1923. Riley is the “seedy” looking character in the middle of the photo. The Wouff Hong can be seen in the far right of the picture on the podium.
On Sunday, March 20, 2005 the 50th Annual Toledo Mobile Radio Association Hamfest occurred! It took place at the Lucas County fairgrounds in two large buildings and had quite a number of flea market venders – both casual and commercial. It was well attended. Riley also spoke at a hamfest forum (see photo). At the forum, he included portions of both presentations from the day before and then answered questions from the audience.
I really enjoyed
my weekend in Toledo! Not only was
it informative and educational but also a good time!
Respectfully submitted, Keith, WA8ZWJ, Vice President I.O.O.K.
