I looked at the calendar today, and thought to myself, “Geez, the summer’s half gone already.” It’s not that I’m not enjoying the summer, but I have the nagging feeling that I could have enjoyed it more if I’d done more planning.
Along those lines, it occurred to me that one way to do that might be to plan a special event station for every week (or maybe every other week) of the summer. You could combine your love of amateur radio with other fun summertime activities.
There are already some summertime special events that you could participate in somehow. For example, Museum Ships Weekend was June 5 and June 6 this year, and there were many ships, such as the Battleship New Jersey (above), on the air. You could have looked for museum ships near you and joined the clubs operating those stations.
Another event that’s coming soon is National Lighthouse/Lightship Weekend (NLLW), August 7 and 8. NLLW is an annual celebrating the anniversary of the establishment of the United States federal lighthouse service. This is a day to celebrate lighthouses, lightships and the commitment and service of those who tended America’s lights for generations. I’ve operated from Pointe aux Barques Lighthouse here in Michigan several times on this weekend and plan to do so again this year.
These are good starts, but you can also make up your own special events. For example, does your town have some kind of festival, such as a melon festival or strawberry festival? Then as the organizers if you can set up a special event station.
Do you know when your city or town was founded? Find out, and if it’s in the summer sometime, set up a portable station in a city park to celebrate the city’s anniversary.
You could do all this yourself, but I think it would be more fun if you roped in some of your club friends as well. More hands make less work, too, so everything doesn’t fall on your shoulders. You could operate these special event stations instead of holding summertime club meetings, which are often sparsely attended anyway.
Start researching the possibilities and planning the events, so that next summer you’re ready to go.
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