[nrv-hams] The man who invented "Elmer"

[Kay Craigie]

The man who wrote the DX column in QST for 30 years, Rod Newkirk
W9BRD/VA3ZBB, has become a Silent Key. I mention this because in one of his
columns in 1971, Rod coined a term that became part of the ham radio
lexicon: "Elmer."

Elmer is your friend and mentor when you are a new ham or a wanna-be, the
person who teaches you, helps you, encourages you, gives you a pat on the
back or a kick in the pants, and shows you a good example of how to be a ham
radio operator.

If we're lucky, we have more than one Elmer as time goes on, and if we are
*really* lucky, we grow up to be somebody's Elmer and pass along the helpful
spirit to the next generation of hams.

This reflector won't pass attachments, so if you'd like to see a copy of the
article in which Rod introduced "Elmer," please send me a message off the
reflector and I'll send you a PDF of it.

Oh ... YLs can be Elmers, too. We call it being an "Elmira."

73 - Kay N3KN