I’ve been vaccinated since the end of February, and have slowly been easing myself back into the world. I’ve been to dine-in restaurants with friends, have gone to see movies at the Michigan Theater with my wife, and today, went to my first hamfest in a year and a half. The Monroe (MI) Hamfest is held every year on Father’s Day. The weather’s usually good, and it’s mostly an outside affair (see below), so I and many other hams felt safe enough to attend.
I had a great time, too. I set up a folding table and set out all the junk, errr great stuff that I brought, sat back in my folding chair, and waited for the customers to wander by. And, wander by, they did. I sold a lot of junk, errr great stuff today.
The highlight of my morning was the sale of a Grundig YB400PE portable shortwave radio to a young lad who was there with his father. I had gotten an email from the boy’s mother a couple of weeks ago, who said that her son had become interested in radio. I mentioned that I just happened to have the aforementioned Grundig, which was part of an SK’s equipment that I was liquidating. I told them about the hamfest, and the mother said that she’d be sending father and son down there to meet me.
We made contact a little before 11 am. I showed them the radio and had a nice chat with both father and son about ham radio. I showed them the Grundig, and they decided to take it. As a bonus, I threw in a copy of the Handbook.
They both seemed quite enthusiastic about getting into ham radio, and I have no doubt that we’ll have yet another father/son combination in the hobby real soon now.