[ARC5] where is a new generation?

[millerke6f at aol.com]

Hi


	While reading  ongoing missives on recruitment of younger folks into the hobby it piqued my curiosity as to what got me interested in this stuff almost 70 years ago.   


	I remember as a tyke my dad taking me with him to dump trash at the Ventura County dump and seeing a pile old radios near a heap of other things.  I was so taken by the idea that anyone would toss out such things as precious as a radio that I talked my dad into letting me drag some of them home.  That was the beginning of what I would now classify as an inculcation of radio and electronics stuff into my brain case.  The romantic connection with the junk has never left me.


	Exposure to the ham radio hobby in all its marvelous forms is the key to recruitment.  And this means that all of us have to open up our shacks and equipment hoards to young folks who show even the smallest of interest in the hobby.  It's also generational.  Neither of my daughters embraced he hobby, but one did take an interest in the science side of the avocation and used that information as a springboard into a highly paid career in the Electronics and Computer industry.  My grandson, did pick up the challenge and is now a general class ham.  The hook there was connecting electronics with his first love, cars and engines (a real gear head).  


	A agree with many of the postings that ham clubs have turned into collections of white headed geezers.  I recently joined a couple of local clubs and found the members to be dedicated to the hobby, friendly, and active in various ham endeavors.  But as noted among the members I saw only one young person, a young fellow who looked like he'd rather be cleaning out chicken coops than attend a ham club meeting.


	In my teenage years a couple of local hams, K6CXB (sk) and W6BWV(sk) were very generous with their gifts of equipment and knowledge which helped me gain entrance into the  hobby with little if any hard earned money invested. If not for the generosity and encouragement provided by these two fellows I probably would no have entered the hobby.


	My recruitment suggestion(s) at this point is to loosen up your hold on functional ham gear and get it into  the hands of young folks,  Just having an old but usable ham band receiver with a hunk of antenna wire just might spark an interest in what's out there.  And if this process gives way to an interest on the part of the youngster,  encourage that development by giving him or her some materials to construct some ham gadget that in turn may accelerate the process and provide that inculcation that many of us OLDER folks experienced as kids.  Clubs may want to set up booths at some of the Maker Fairs or even county fairs and other social gatherings.  


	So rather than wring our hands and do nothing about the lack of young folks entering the hobby, lets get proactive and Elmer a few kids so we will have a bunch of able bodied folks to put up the antennas at Field Day and pull the late shifts at the operating table (a bit of self interest here)


	73


	Bob, KE6F