Well another Miami has come and gone and for the South Florida DX Association it was one Our Best Efforts in many years! A Compete
Success!
On Friday Joe W4SAA and several members led by Don and Hope set the Booth up and got things ready for the crowds. Don picked up Bill
Moore in the afternoon and took him to dinner. I received a call from Al Hernandez that he and Bill N2WB were at the hotel and
ready for the next day. I then received a call from Dan Street K1TO saying he and Jim K4OJ were on the highway and would arrive at
their hotel shortly.
After noting the passing of Bob White W1CW, who was a friend to the SFDXA for many years we continued the program. Dan was first to
speak at the DX Forum followed by Al and then Bill Moore. It was very well attended and I counted about 60 in attendance at the
peak. The group was treated to some fine presentations by our guests. I heard many wonderful comments over the two days and we
certainly owe our thanks to them.
The DX Dinner or "Gathering Of Friends" at the Casa Paco, started with cocktail hour at about 5:30 and by the time we sat down to
eat there were 42 in consuming beer and other beverages. We had 33 stay for dinner. The food and service were terrific. I was
impressed and so were all the hungry members and guests including a number of couples. I was glad to see the ladies enjoying them
selves. There sure was a lot of beer being consumed of all brands. I never heard of Presidente but by now I am a big fan. Thanks To
Steve W4DTA and Mike W4UM for putting it together and keeping it rolling.
Loads of Door Prizes were given out at the Forum as well as the dinner from:
Cubex Antennas
The HamStation from Indiana
MFJ in cooperation with The Ham Station
Daily DX
QRZ DX
Ham CallBook
Mike's Electronics of Ft Lauderdale.
Al Hernandez donated a First Day Edition of A Millenium Stamp from Chatham Island.
Their generosity enabled us to make it even more fun than ever. Please Patronize their businesses.
The New Board Of Directors was announced.
Bruce W4OV, was presented with the "DX Hog Of The Year" by Steve W4DTA.
Ask Don about his "Pepper Steak"
Mark W2YMX and Gil W1RG were there early on Sunday to help Don out at the booth while he and Bill Checked endless piles of DXCC
cards. I was treated to a "Drive Through Check" Bill Moore stopped by my tables, checked my cards and then kept going down the
aisle.
All I can say is the Dinner and Forum were a complete success thanks to all the volunteers that spent time at the booth answering
questions and helping out. Joe, Don and Hope broke things down on Sunday and another hamfest was History.
We signed up a number of new members and gave out a lot of information on the club. The word of the Dinner and Forum got around
because I had hams stopping by my tables on Sunday to let me know they heard about the great time we had. Thats from hams that were
not even there.
On another note, I must mention the events of Saturday morning. The doors opened and crowds filed in. The fellow at the table next
to me was monitoring the shuttle landing and listening to Houston when he turned to me and said " they've lost contact". The rest is
history.... and none will forget where we were that day. The word slowly traveled around the room. Normally the crowds on Saturday
build from 10 AM until about 1 PM and then start to taper off. On Saturday the crowds were never larger than what they were at about
10 AM. None the less the DX Forum was the best attended one in many many years thanks to the Quality of our Guest Speakers.
On Sunday which is normally a very slow day, barely worth staying open if your selling things as I usually do, became what Saturday
never did. It was crowded all day. Those that went home Saturday or never came at all showed up on Sunday making it a very well
attended Weekend.
Thanks Again to all the SFDXA volunteers that made it successful. You can be proud of the results of your efforts. - Bill Marx W2CQ