[SFDXA] Hara Arena Items Going on the Auction Block

[Bill]

Hara Arena Items Going on the Auction Block

11/21/2016
It’s time to get your piece of an Amateur Radio landmark — Hara Arena! 
Starting on Thanksgiving Day, November 24, and continuing until November 
30, online auctioneer*Everything But the House* 
<http://www.ebth.com/> will be taking bids on a variety of items from 
the former home of Dayton Hamvention®, which took place in the Trotwood, 
Ohio, facility for more than 50 years. Hara’s owners, the Wampler 
family, had attempted for years to put Hara on a profitable plane but 
were unsuccessful.

“We were overwhelmed by the number, and variety, of requests we received 
from people hoping to get a Hara keepsake,” Hara Marketing Director 
Karen Wampler said in a /Dayton Daily News/ *article* 
<http://www.daytondailynews.com/business/hara-arena-items-auctioned-off-starting-thanksgiving/Xqsx7QzdHtczNads9NLK6N/>. 
“We were approached by brides who wanted a chandelier from their 
reception hall, concert goers who wanted a picture or backstage pass 
from their favorite show, [and] life-long hockey fans who wanted a Hara 
seat or banner.”

Hara held an “Odds and Ends Sale” in mid-October to shed what it called 
“an odd and eclectic assortment that includes glassware, seasonal 
decorations, candles, vases, tables, chairs, lockers, food service 
displays, office supplies, pretzel warmers, hot chocolate machines, 
sporting, refrigeration and catering equipment, and much more.” In late 
August, Hara offered all comers a chance to visit the landmark facility 
one last time.

The arena announced its closing in late July.

Hamvention, which has relocated to the Greene County Fairgrounds in 
Xenia, has attracted more than 25,000 visitors each spring and was worth 
millions of dollars in terms of annual economic impact for the Greater 
Dayton area.

All items start at a $1 bid. According to the /Dayton Daily News/, the 
auction will include “a limited number of Hara Arena and Cincinnati’s 
Crosley Field seats, Hara signage, photos, posters, sports and event 
memorabilia, sports equipment, chandeliers, catering items, tables and 
chairs.”

An estate sale for Ralph and Edna Wampler will run concurrently on the 
same auction website.

The Wampler family has owned and operated Hara Arena since its humble 
origins in the 1950s, when Wampler Ballarena — then a dance hall and now 
an exhibit hall familiar to Hamvention visitors — was built in what had 
been a family-owned orchard.

Over its 6-decade history, Hara Arena hosted concerts by performers that 
included the Rolling Stones and the Grateful Dead; it also was where 
hockey great Wayne Gretzky played his first professional hockey game.

http://www.arrl.org/news/hara-arena-items-going-on-the-auction-block