2021 – 8th Annual Tailgate Fest

SMCARA held a very successful Tailgate Fest yesterday with great weather and good turnout. We opened the doors at 0800 and closed down around 12. I’m not sure of the final count but we did sell all indoor tablespaces and filled a good chunk of the tailgate spots outside. As always, it was a good chance to catch up with old friends in person and meet other hams in person that you’ve only ever talked to on the air.    

A big thank you to a number of club members that helped make this a success. First, a big thank you to Dan, KD3CQ for organizing this event, selling all of the spots/tables, getting the signs made up, etc, thanks Dan! Thanks to Mike, KB3ZWM and Steve, KA3WAP for manning the registration and coffee tables and for handling the ARRL give away. Mike was ready to run a VE test session but we had no test takers at the event. To Chuck, K3WJX for his assistance with the event based off of his years of running it in the past. To Jayne, W4VJU & Rick, W1JRM for all the effort in selling Dick Wilson’s estate material and donating the money to the club; and thanks to Austin, KC3NSE for storing it! I completely forgot to take pictures so if anyone took any pictures, please email them to me at: [email protected] want to post them on the club’s website along with this write-up.

After the tailgate fest was over, a few of the ARES members met in the same building to hold a Winlink workshop led by Chris, KB2SKP. We made progress in getting Winlink up and running and using it over RF, thanks Chris!

Overall a great event that was a lot of fun and allowed people to unload some of their excess gear. We have a few small lessons learned for next year that we can chat about at the next club meeting. Another successful club event in the books as we head into Fall. The year is moving fast, hard to believe our last club meeting for the year will take place next month, 10/28!

73, Rob – N2OMC