The following article is reprinted with permission of the Floyd Amateur Radio Society (FARS).  Congratulations to FARS on their ARRL affiliation!

Sitting Linda Petrie, Kathleen Becker WK4AB, Russ Abbey KG4MAV, John Anderson K4JKA. Standing, Mike Herring KE4RGY, John Hughlett N4WRT, Dee Wallace KG4VMI, Tom King W4VZH, Gaynell Larson KK4WWW, Dave Larson KK4WW

The Floyd Amateur Radio Society (FARS) has received its affiliation with the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the National Organization for Amateur Radio in the United States.  This affiliation will let the Society receive grants for educational use, publications for Amateur Radio at a reduced cost, and assistance with training new operators in the use of Amateur Radio.  The affiliation will also let the Society have access to the “Clubs” page on the www.arrl.org web page.  We are working on getting some of the local “Hams” certified as Volunteer Examiners, These VE’s will be able to test new “Hams” and also the Hams that are upgrading to a higher license. 

Have you heard – a cruise-in for amateur radio mobile stations?  That is exactly what the Albemarle Amateur Radio Club of Virginia members did when they staged the first statewide Virginia Ham Radio Cruise-In in Charlottesville.

Many are familiar with cruise-in events at restaurants, drive-ins, shopping centers or other venues, where participants drive their cars, trucks, motorcycles, whatever, to display and compete for awards. The owners of the vehicles take pride in their efforts to restore, modify or otherwise spruce them up and enjoy displaying them as much as the spectators enjoy seeing them. 

Mobile ham radio operators are also proud of the time, effort and more than a few dollars they have invested in their transportable Amateur Radio stations – hence the Amateur Radio Cruise-In where hams can showcase their work.

Fredia Wright recently celebrated her 90^th birthday with her family and friends … and fellow hams.

Ms. Wright is a lifetime member of Briarpatch Amateur Radio Club (BARC), formed by her son, Roy Wright (K4AXQ), in 1973. The club, located in the Grayson County, Virginia area, serves southwest Virginia and northwest North Carolina. The club takes good advantage of its mountainous terrain through its Briarpatch Mountain VHF repeater operating on 147.69 MHz.  The club honored her with a lifetime membership in gratitude and recognition of her many years of service to BARC and to the amateur radio community.

Ms. Wright’s friends describe her as “a wonderful lady... mother, sister, aunt, grandmother, great grandmother, mother-in-law and friend,” according to the invitation to her birthday bash. She encouraged her son to participate in amateur radio since he was 12 years old.  Roy’s Elmer, Andy Anderson (W4WAB), taught him the radio theory and code, enabling him to earn his novice license in 1953 and his general ticket a year later at age 13.

Ms. Wright lives in a house in Grayson County that she, her husband, and her family designed and built in 1941. The property, located atop Briarpatch Mountain, is not only Ms. Wright’s home, but is also home to BARC’s repeater.  When she isn’t involved in amateur radio, Ms. Wright is an avid gardener, quilter, and stays very active with her business and church affairs and with the Women’s Auxiliary.

Please join us in thanking Fredia Wright for her lifetime dedication to amateur radio and wishing her a very happy 90^th birthday.

Amateurs all over Virginia (and many other places, too) will be on the air the third weekend in March to celebrate this year’s edition of the Virginia QSO Party. This event, sponsored by the Sterling Park Amateur Radio Club (SPARC), is designed to promote ham radio in Virginia. The goal for participants is to work as many independent cities and counties as possible. To keep you busy, there are 39 independent cities and 95 counties in Virginia. Hours for the event are 1800 UTC on Saturday, 20 March 2010 through 0100 UTC on Monday, 22 March 2010.

 The QSO Party is as much about fun and fellowship as it is about competition. Plaques will be awarded in 24 categories and certificates will be prepared for all participants submitting a log. Scoring is straightforward; 1 point for each phone contact, 2 points for each CW/digital contact, and 3 points for each contact with a mobile station. Multipliers are available for each county, independent city, state, province, or country. There is also a 500 point bonus for completing a QSO with K4NVA, the SPARC club station. The contest is not limited to Virginia amateurs and hams outside the state will contact as many Virginia counties and independent cities as possible. Four of the plaques will be awarded to those outside of Virginia.