I don’t know about you, but I’m really tired of Zoom meetings. Fortunately, here in Michigan, covid cases are down, and in Washtenaw County, where I live, the vaccination rates are quite high. So, instead of trying to twist someone’s arm to speak to us via Zoom, I felt it was time that our club, ARROW, met face to face.
Instead of cramming into a University of Michigan classroom—which we haven’t yet gotten permission to do anyway—I decided that meeting in one of Ann Arbor’s lovely parks would be just the ticket. I’m not a big planner, so my original thought would be for everyone to just show up, maybe bring a radio, and a bag lunch.
Nick, W8XM, wasn’t having any of that, though. He volunteered to head over to Costco and purchase what we needed for a real cookout. He bought burgers, brats, cheese, onions, lettuce, buns, and a cooler full of Coke (both regular and diet) and water. He even brought his pop-up canopy. Dinesh AB3DC brought a pop-up gas grill, Jack N8PMG brought some snacks, Don AC8TO also brought some beverages, and 18 of us had a real feast.
Some guys brought radios. Dave N8SBE brought his KX2 and worked some FT4. Ed AB8OJ brought his AREDN node, and Thom W8TAM showed up in what he calls his “POTA pursuit vehicle,” a former cop car, with an IC-7300 and screwdriver antenna installed. I brought my KX-3, but never did get around to setting it up.
The weather cooperated, too. At 4 pm, it started pouring, and it looked like it was going to be a wet evening, but the rain cleared out by 5 pm, and stayed nice, if a little humid, throughout the rest of the evening.
This event turned out a lot better than I had planned. It was great seeing everyone face-to-face again. We may just have to do this again next month.
If your club hasn’t yet gathered in person yet, consider doing something similar to what we just did. As long as you’re all vaccinated, there’s not much risk in meeting outdoors, and the summertime is the time to do it.
Our next event is going to be a small gathering at the same park for Field Day in a couple of weeks. Instead of our usual 4A + GOTA operation, we’ll be either 1A or 2A, and probably only operate from 2pm until 10pm on Saturday, when we’re supposed to be out of the park.
How’s your club doing as far as getting back together again? I’d like to know.
We had our first face-to-face meeting last Saturday (June 4th) at a local eatery. We’ve kept in touch during COVID with a couple of daily 2 meter nets, but it is nice to see faces again.