More than 20 hams from Stillwater and the area participated in this year’s Field Day. This was the most successful Field Day effort ever achieved by the Stillwater Club in over sixty years.
Stillwater: The club set up in a shelter between the lake and the busy walking and running sidewalk around the lake in front of the Veterans Memorial. This proved to be a highly visible site with many pedestrians stopping in to see what was going on. Some of those visitors attended this evening’s Stillwater ARC meeting expressing interest in becoming licensed amateur radio operators.
It has been more than a decade since any Field Day effort was attempted in Stillwater. No one remembers a successful Field Day event nor one that was well organized in the long history of the club. Last was elected summer a new President Ryan Frederick KF5PFU. His goal was to have a successful Field Day Event which he believed would help unite hams in the community, foster fellowship, and create enthusiasm about amateur radio in the area as well has have fun. These goals were not only achieved but exceeded the highest expectations.
Ryan appointed Bill Pendleton KE5OEX as Field Day Chairman. Bill secured the site with permission from the city, arranged with the ARRL to print the ARRL 2014 Field Day logo on the backs of t-shirts with the name of the club on the front. These were sold to club members and proved very popular. He created the art work for a vinyl banner identifying the Stillwater Amateur Radio Club and its affiliation with the American Radio Relay League which was place prominently at the site for hundreds passing by to see. Bill arranged for public service announcements to air on the local radio stations.
Saturday afternoon a thunderstorm moved quickly through the area and the team was prepared with tarps and covered the equipment as the rain and lightning moved through the Stillwater area. Four transmitters were operational continually through the night until eleven am Sunday morning. A local pizza restaurant appeared late Saturday night with free pizza for the operators!
This event was a wonderful balance of operating, fellowship, and demonstrating amateur radio to the public. Tuesday evening at the monthly meeting of the Stillwater ARC several guest that saw the Field Day operation attended the club meeting and inquired about how to become licensed.
President Ryan Frederick KF5PFU is creating a great enthusiasm for ham radio and club participation in our community. Bill Pendleton KE5OEX was key in creative planning and implementation of this outstanding effort. Both should be commended.
This highly successful Field Day event has created lots of momentum to move forward with additional projects and goals.
Photos of the Stillwater ARC may be viewed on Facebook at the following link:https://www.facebook.com/
Thanks to Jim Shideler, W5JCS for this report.
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