2020 Annual WAARC Dinner

The WAARC club’s Annual Dinner was this past Saturday at Doraldo’s Italian Restaurant.  We had 59 attendees and everyone seemed to have had a great time (especially those who won one or more door prizes!).

There were three tremendous highlights to our dinner.  First we were wonderfully entertained by professional singer Branch Fields III, son of our member Jaylene Fields KN4KXK, accompanied by local musician Glenn Lavender on the bass fiddle and trumpet and our own Elizabeth “B” Matthews KN4KXM on the keyboard.  Branch first sang a beautiful rendition of “If Ever I Would Leave You” as Sir Lancelot from the musical Camelot for which Branch received a standing ovation.

What followed was “unique” to say the least…Branch and Glenn were wonderful sports as they lead us in singing two ham radio songs authored and arranged in total secrecy by the group led by Wally WA3RWP, Cynthia K4CEF, George KN4KXQ, “B” KN4KXM, Fred KN4ZME, Jaylene KN4KXK, Joyce KX4MK and Greg KN4KYJ.

Needless to say, the lyrics to “My Linear Amplifier” (sung to the tune of “Ring of Fire” by Johnny Cash) and “Wire in the Sky” (sung to “Spirit in the Sky” by Norman Greenbaum) had everyone singing along, first extolling the use of QRO followed by a ditty revolving around our licensing classes and the famous WAARC OCF antenna.

The final highlight of the evening was the presentation of the third annual Jim Bailey KB4ZIN Award for Excellence to Chuck White AI4WU, our club Vice President.  Chuck’s long career as an amateur radio operator, public safety professional, and most especially his being the consummate Elmer made the selection committee’s choice an easy one.

We capped off the evening with door prizes including a great selection of ham radio hats, ARRL books, electronics and hand tool sets, a field day pack, and four HT radios…many members left that night with lots of goodies.

A special thanks to the Food Committee, Anita KH2FX, Toby KL0SS, Thea KF4CJQ and Michael K4MRO for planning, coordinating and executing a perfect evening and the entertainment creators, planners, and performers.