We attended an excellent seminar on Amateur (Ham) Radio and RVing put on by Tom Abernathy, W3TOM. Tom is an assistant division director for the ARRL and the current leader of the SKP Ham Radio BOF, as well the SKP coordinator for The Row. We returned to our coach to work for a bit and make our brown bag lunches for the SKP HAM Radio BOF gathering at noon.
The SKP HAM BOF brown bag lunch was well attended. Tom, W3TOM, shared some information with the group. One factoid I found interesting was that at larger SKP rallies, such as the Escapades, hams usually make up 8-10% of the attendees. This is probably a higher percentage than in the membership at large, and much higher than in the U. S. population, which has about 750,000 licensed amateur radio operators out of more than 300 million people. Tom had quite a few books to give out as door prizes, along with ARRL pens and HAM bumper/window stickers. We got a book on transmission lines and one on emergency communications.
We returned to the coach after lunch and worked until it was time to go to dinner. It was another warm day, and the humidity was up a bit as thunderstorms were forecast for later. By mid-afternoon we had stowed the awnings, closed up the coach, and turned on the air-conditioners.
The 35th birthday celebration dinner was underwritten by Paul Everts RV. Dinner was preceded by recognition of all the staff, volunteers, and presenters who made the Escapade possible. There was a look back at 1978, the year the Escapees RV Club was formed. The two grand prize recipients were also drawn (we did not win). The prizes were a 16-day Adventure Caravan for two and the Rose Parade HOP (Head Out Program), also for two. Dinner was buffet style, and they got everyone through the lines very efficiently. The only thing we could eat for sure was the dinner rolls, so we each took two. We had some of the corn, although it may have been prepared with butter. The lack of a green salad was a bit disappointing, but we expect that our food choices will be limited in group meal settings such as this. Still, with the number of older RVers who obviously have health issues, it saddens us to see what they are served to eat, and how they gobble it up. Dancing followed the meal, with live music by the Rivoli Review, but we didn’t stay. I don’t dance, and we had heard enough of the Rivoli’s the other night to last us for a while.
We were (understandably) a bit hungry when we got back to our coach, so we had popcorn. Not the healthiest choice, I know, but quick and easy (and yummy).
The City of Gillette fireworks were scheduled for 10 PM at the CAM-PLEX. By the time we got back to our coach, unofficial fireworks were being set off all around us. As Boxelder is on higher ground, we had a good view in all directions. By 8 PM it was obvious we had thunderstorms moving into the area, with an impressive lightning show to the west around through the south to the southeast. The SKP Photographers BOF met at 9 PM in the southwest corner of Boxelder RV Park to assist members interested in photographing the fireworks. By 9:30 PM light rain was starting to fall and I headed back to the coach. I got there just before it started to rain in earnest, and shortly thereafter the main fireworks show began. Either the announced time was wrong or they pulled it forward because of the weather. Fortunately, we were parked so that we were able to watch the show from our living room window. It lasted over 30 minutes, during which time the rain steadily increased, but they got it in. We left the air-conditioners on as storms were forecast to continue through the overnight hours.