[Boatanchors] New Ham vs Old Ham

[mlangen]

The bulk of today's "hamfests" seem to be, for the most part, glorified flea 
markets.  The "good ole" hamfests were, indeed different: talks on 
DXpeditions; demos; formal, sit-down banquets -- complete with suit & tie, 
award presentations, a banquet speaker, door prizes and (horrors!) a cash 
bar -- the whole deal a lot more formal, choreographed and collegial.

I was sitting with another OT at a recent hamfest "lunch" (overcooked 
hotdogs on soggy buns) when he observed with a sweep of his hand, "Behold: 
one of the sorriest collections of social misfits on the planet."  No, it 
was not a great recruiting environment.

Mark -- WA9ETW

> On Mon, 6 Dec 2010 11:09:54 -0600 "Bob Peters" <rwpeters at swbell.net>
> writes:
>> I remember the good ole HAMFESTS in New England were even a Garbage
>> Collector that was a ham wore a suit and hat to fests and was as
>> clean as
>> can be...
>> Hate to agree with ya all but you are right...Hams just seem to not
>> have the
>> quality of hygiene as they used to but I think that Americans as a
>> whole do
>> not... You see the
>> Folks both guys and gals that are dressed to the 10's and then you
>> go to
>> WALLY WORLD   LOL
>>
>> Bob W1PE