[South Florida DX Association] Miami Hamboree ...

[Bill Marx]

The Friday night fun at the Falcon Pub with Bernie and Wayne was terrific.
This was a new feature for the club and I think may be a part of all future
Hamborees. We had RSVP's from 21 SFDXA Members and Friends and 35 showed up!
A little scrambling and some help from the owners of the Falcon Pub and we
all had a great time. No Don did not try the hot sauce again.

The Miami Hamboree took some interesting turns this year and it seemed to
work well. The Hamboree consolidated and mixed in some Flea Market Tables
with the Manufacturers and Distributors. This was new and seemed to work
very well as the Vendors had a great show. Evelyn and I spoke Sunday morning
and she was saying how many good comments she was receiving from the
Sellers. The outdoor Flea Market while not many vendors were there (35?)
they were busy until Sunday Afternoon. I suspect next year we will see a ton
of vendors. Most of the guys outdoors sold everything they had by Saturday
Morning.

The DX Forum was one of the best ever. They seem to get better all the time.
Bernie W3UR fascinated us with his adventures at 4U1UN and KH3 DX Peditions.
He was informative and interesting the entire time. We hope to have him back
again. Wayne N7NG was there representing the ARRL and he provided us with
answers to questions. I'd say we had about 55 attendees over all.

Wayne then spent the rest of Saturday checking cards with Don W3AZD. Bernie
stayed with us at the DX Booth through Sunday proving to be big help at the
booth and subscribing guys to the DX Bulletin.

The Gathering of Friends at Casa Paco once again was one of the highlights
of the weekend for those attending. As always Dan from The Hamstation came
and tested the local Beers. We had 42  for Dinner. I'd say everyone had a
terrific time. the food was excellent as it was two years ago at this same
place.

Door Prizes from The Ham Station, Cubex Quads, QRZ DX,  Daily DX Bulletin,
Mike's Electronics, ARRL (Thanks Sherri) were given out at the DX Forum and
Saturday evening. Please shop these supporters.

We still want to know how Bernie of the Daily DX Bulletin managed to win a
subscription to his own Newsletter. He gave the subscription to Grant who
hasn't won a Door Prize in a long time. Bernie thought he should have it.
(The 160 information alone is worth the subscription Grant).

And of course the Big News of the night and the year was the awarding of the
"DX HOG" Of  The Year to Ron W4BP. A well deserved award indeed. Past Winner
of 2003 Kappy WA4WTG picked Ron to wear the Hog Cap for this year.

Special Thanks to Volunteers that made it happen. In no particular order.
Steve W4DTA
Mark K2AU
Bruce W4OV
Don W3AZD
Hope WB3ANE
Gil W1RG
Pete N8PR
and Thanks to all Members of the SFDXA that contributed their efforts to
making this a tremendous success again this year.

See you all next year...
-Bill Marx W2CQ