|
Title: Nearfest is Cancelled. Post by: KD1SH on March 26, 2020, 08:53:54 PM Mr. Mike just called it: Nearfest is cancelled. Not a surprise - saw it coming - but it still hurts.
Title: Re: Nearfest is Cancelled. Post by: ka1tdq on March 26, 2020, 09:23:46 PM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LxO_zZ0Nf8 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LxO_zZ0Nf8)
Title: Re: Nearfest is Cancelled. Post by: KD1SH on March 27, 2020, 07:31:35 AM To Mister Mike and the whole Nearfest crew: thanks for doing all you could to keep Nearfest off the lee-shore in a howling gale, but with the roar of the breakers in our ears, the grounding was inevitable. Know that your loyal Nearfest goers will not let you down. Keep us updated; we've got your back.
Title: Re: Nearfest is Cancelled. Post by: Carl WA1KPD on March 27, 2020, 08:53:09 AM Smart move. Sorry to see it shut down but under the circumstances, the right thing to do.
The Phoenix will rise! Title: Re: Nearfest is Cancelled. Post by: WBear2GCR on March 27, 2020, 01:53:56 PM Bwaaaaahhhh! But anyhow, my thinking is that it might be better to have a single date in late August, rather than the rainy/nasty one that often ends up being the Fall gathering... Are those fairgrounds full up (normally) all summer?? _-_- Title: Re: Nearfest is Cancelled. Post by: KD1SH on March 27, 2020, 02:04:30 PM According to Mister Mike, they're pretty much all booked up throughout the spring, summer, and fall. Sounds like we're lucky we've got what we've got.
Bwaaaaahhhh! But anyhow, my thinking is that it might be better to have a single date in late August, rather than the rainy/nasty one that often ends up being the Fall gathering... Are those fairgrounds full up (normally) all summer?? _-_- Title: Re: Nearfest is Cancelled. Post by: W1ITT on March 27, 2020, 06:10:23 PM Chances of any good agricultural fairgrounds having an "extra" date in warm weather are nil to nuthin. The DFA hasn't yet posted a 2020 schedule on their web site, but a quick look at their 2019 dates shows them chockerblock full. There's a good chance that the social distancing efforts will be a lot slower to reopen events for 50 people or over than they were to impose them. We can hope for the best, but I'm afraid that their fair will be lucky to be allowed to open in September. AMfone - Dedicated to Amplitude Modulation on the Amateur Radio Bands
The other problem, with agricultural fairs, as well as hamfests, is that people will probably tend to be cautious about mingling elbow to elbow in crowds. We hams are mostly getting up there in dog years and need to be more cautious of our health than were were in the good old days, and half of us won't go, for fear of the cootie virus, and for fear that others won't go for the same reason. The end result is that attendance is low and the sponsor can't pay the bills. When K1RQG (sk) and W1GWU and I were running Hosstraders there was more excitement for hamfests in general, no FleaBay to buy "stuff" and we were all generally younger and more vigorous. We never worried about paying the bills, and were usually in black ink before 1030 on Friday morning. Hamfest operators have it tougher now than we did back then. 73 de Norm W1ITT |