In the Beginning
Contents
Topics per Jim Thompson, VE3BCA
A Continuation of the History of the Niagara Peninsula Amateur Radio Club - Started about January 2007. Since I was a charter member of the Club in 1948, (I was licensed in 1947) when it was formed in the Old Polish Legion Hall on Niagara Street across from the Old Victoria School which stood near where the Queen Elizabeth Way intersects Niagara Street and Vine Street. I think I had better write some more of the history before I forget everything.
Ethel and Cy Williamson VE3DTW and VE3TW respectively, had written a book about the club up to 1923 and a bit a little later on, so I will continue from there.
Since the club was formed in 1948 a lot of changes have taken place. A picture of the people present at the time in November 1948 shows the interest in the club at the time. It was taken in the Hall and some of the people are identified. As I cannot remember all of the details I will concentrate on those I do remember.
Emile Hicks, VE3AFI and Elton Culp, VE3AUQ were the two who contacted most of the hams in the Niagara Peninsula and suggested we have a get together. Emile was elected President and Elton Secretary-Treasurer. That was all the executive we had to start. Those two kept the club going for the first little while and it expanded and contracted over time.
Elton passed away and Emile remarried after his first wife died, and ended up in British Columbia. Before he left I bought a tower he had scrounged from the old electric rail line that ran to Port Dalhousie and was being dismantled. It had a "hot" line at the top for the trolleys and these towers had an arm that extended over the center of the track holding the line. That tower still forms part of my tower as the base section with 2 aluminum sections above it - one atop the steel one and one inside the other as a crank up. I can get height anywhere between 55 and 75 feet above the ground.
As I am at the 600 foot level on the top edge of the Escarpment. It put me at a good height above sea level. Since I have been here over 40 years, the trees have grown up and I will have to get some additional height or clear them to be able to get my signal out. The tower is situated behind the "Bastle", which is short for Barn and Castle, and is a six sided structure about 35 feet tall. I built it after returning from England and visiting some of the Castles over there.
Social Events
I can remember many of the get-togethers we had other than Club meetings. We had many Wiener Roasts with families etc. and one stands out clearly in my mind, as it was held at Harv Cox's VE3FZ place on Mountain Road just at the southern end of Beamsville. There were 47 people in attendance and we made a profit of $2.75. It was a bit cool but a good evening. As the farm was well away from the built up area to the north, Harv had hooked up a PA system so that announcements could be made to all in attendance. The nearest houses were 400-500 feet away and we were fairly well isolated. However, after a few announcements someone started to spout some rather raw jokes and all of a sudden the PA was no longer in existence as it was a still night and the sound would carry quite a distance.
This was Sept. 8, 1956. Part of the entertainment that ensued without he PA was an hypnotic demonstration by one of our members Guy Feterley VE3ALN who worked at Norton Abrasives in Chippawa. Guy was a very talented fellow who had worked on the Atomic Bomb, but at that time it was not known and he did not mention this aspect as he had to keep it mum. (See Article in St. Catharines Standard of Aug 6, 2005 or 2006?) His one demo was to put one of two close friends under a spell and he informed him that when his friend returned he would notice a peculiar smell about him and he would not be able to stand it and would try to move away. Everyone gathered around knew what would happen and when the friend returned, who also did not know about it, they started to chat and everyone had to keep from splitting their side with laughter at the antics of both of them, one moving away and the other trying to get close to talk to him, neither knowing what the problem was.
Guy finally told them and corrected the problem that they had, and their friendship continued. Another demo was with a chap who was a chain smoker. After he put him under he told him that the next cigarettes he smoked would taste terrible. Guy went on with other talk and in a short time the chap lit up a cigarette. After a couple of puffs he looked at the thing and snuffed it out. He then lit up another one and did the same thing but he looked at the package and as it had always been in his pocket he had a quizzeled look on his face; This time he did not look fine but said "dam' and looked at those around him as though they had tampered with his smokes. The rest of us roared and he got a bit upset but when we told him he had control of the cigarettes all night he calmed down. A while later he tried again -same result, so Guy once again restored the guy to the present and all was fine because Guy did not want to leave anyone with any after effects.
Guy was interested in dianetics whereby he could try to control his bodily functions with his mind. For instance suppose he cut himself badly on the arm and he was restricted in what he could do physically, he could try to stop the blood from flowing by mental control in order to stop bleeding to death until he could get some help. He and I had quite a discussion about that subsequent to the Wiener Roast. I understand that he was interested in other areas of development such as audio and math and physics problems.
That was the year that I (Jim VE3BCA) went to Arnprior to take a course at the Civil Defense College as I was in charge of Civil Defense with Howard Cowling. Harry Borsato VE3BSA had returned from a course for Communications Instructors, Bruce St. George VE3BKO of CKTB, moved to Wingham TV station, George Spencer was back in town and Murray Winslow VE3DBF put up a whopper of an antenna.
Other Wiener Roasts were held at the Port Weller lighthouse property of Cy and Ethel Williamson , when Cy was in charge of the maintenance of the Light. After it was automated they moved into the city. I remember a wire antenna up at Cy's place (it can be seen in the picture in Ethel's write up), and I came across that antenna when I helped sell his stuff off for Ethel after he died, so I kept that antenna and it is still in the "Bastle"-the one with the long white insulators about 2 feet or more in length. The club held "do's" there for several years before they moved and we enjoyed their congenial hospitality.
One Christmas Party was held at my place in St. Catharines (47 Ghent St.) in the basement, which was unfinished at the time. So like Tom Sawyer I arranged a work party to help straighten and decorate the place in time for the party. Of course part way through I had to leave to go to another meeting and left my wife in charge and the "volunteers' working hard to get it finished. We charged 50 cents admission and had a good crowd of people for dancing card games and other entertainment as well as plenty of food, main and dessert.
Other "do's" were corn roasts where we had a big pot of boiling water with the husked cobs cooking, a couple of lbs. of butter where we would roll the hot corn to butter it and with salt pepper and anything else you wanted we enjoyed the evening. I think one was held at Burgoyne Woods in the south of Glen Ridge area, and there was nothing but woods there at that time. It is now all a subdivision before entering the woods.
One club Christmas party was held at the Optimists Hall when Margaret Sewell VE3HOX, wife of Joe Sewell VE3SE, was President. I can't remember much about the evening but one thing stood out was that they wrapped someone in a shroud of toilet paper and she had to turn round and round until the whole roll was used up. It was quite a sight at the time.
Fleamarkets
We started to bring unwanted (by the owner) equipment to the meetings to sell, exchange or give away and it expanded to a listing In the Bulletin and later to a Swap Net on the Air. Later we had a Dinner Dance at Pt. Dalhousie Lions Hall and as we had the hall for the day the morning was set up as a mini flea market for club personnel and families who wanted to exchange "stuff ' or just get rid of surplus equipment. It was then cleaned out, and set up for the dance (& dinner?). I have forgotten. But the whole thing got so big eventually that we started what we called The "Big Event" and it was held every year and is still going on in 2007. Many events were held in the CAW Hall on Bunting Road and others elsewhere, but the latest was at Merritton Community Centre in February 2007.
IARU Conventions
An IARU Convention was held in Niagara Falls one year with Howard Cowling in charge and it was one of the earlier ones and not as large as the one held again in 1995. This one was also held at the Brock Hotel in Niagara Falls and overflows from the bookings were at other hotels nearby. This Convention covered all of Region 2 of the world, which was North, Central and South America as well as many of the islands of the Atlantic and Pacific near the Americas like Bermuda, Cuba, and Caribbean etc.
The International Amateur Radio Union is made up of three regions and we are in Region 2. Niagara Falls was a drawing card and a good place to hold an event. Tom Atkins VE3CDM was Canadian Rep at the time and talked the NPARC into hosting the event. George Spencer VE3AGS was a past president of the club and so we took it on with George as local Chairman. We held many meetings in planning it with Tom Atkins as Coordinator. On the Committee was also Bill Loucks VE3AR as treasurer, Al D'eon VE3AND, Fergie Kyle VE3LVO, Bob Rotenberg VE3AKN, Jim Thompson VE3BCA and a few who I cannot recall on that planning Committee.
The Hotel Brock overlooks the Falls at Niagara and we took over the whole shebang as we set up a complete computer and office facility in the main area of the building and had printing and people running the offices and computers for the whole of the convention producing all kinds of documents relating to meetings, reports, and kept track of those attending, where they were staying in the city and who paid and owed money etc.. It was well planned and had few hitches. I was in charge of Reception, Security and Photography and we had obtained automated Cash Registers with a tape print out, to keep track of payments made and for what etc. On the weekend when no repairman was available the cash register went haywire and would not record the details. As the delegates streamed in I had to take money for registration, hotels, and other pre-booking they had made and record it by hand. As we had Spanish speaking only personnel I had set up a separate area where they could go and talk in their own language as we had 3 or 4 fluent speakers in the club. Bill Loucks the Treasurer sat across from me in the Reception area and watched me like a hawk, as well as keeping track of head counts so he had a rough count of registration as he did not want any pilfering or mistaken entries of any funds from that section of the operation. Later we came pretty close to what we figured we should have in income and I still have the calculations of the results.
The helpers who assisted with the Spanish Speaking Attendees were Arnold McBay VE3LWW/VA3LW and his wife who was Spanish and also Oscar Bordenave VE3PIO also a club member and Spanish background. Any non English speaking person was sent on to them and all receptionists did a bang-up job in processing the delegates quite quickly and efficiently. I also obtained help from Harry Borsato VE3BSA who assisted with picking up passengers arriving at the Buffalo and Niagara Falls Airports.
In the actual conferences we had arranged for simultaneous translation of the speakers so that all would know what was going on, and with computer arrangements we could produce the translations also. Delegates were there from all over the world including England, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, United States and other smaller countries of Region 2.
The Grand Picture of the delegates and attendees is shown above. I also have many small pictures of social hours with delegates speaking privately to one another, including George Spencer. I remember Noel Eaton VE3CJ, who was a past president of IARU and who was a founding member, was there as an observer and assistant where possible, and was well known and liked by all who know him.
When it was all over many said it was the best organized of any they had attended and we were congratulated for an outstanding success.
Canal Days
Another Event Amateur Radio took part in was Canal Days. We had helped out with the Museum on the Welland Canal in St. Catharines for quite a while and then the Port Colborne group organized an operation called Canal Days and is written up by Doug Frame VE3JDF.
For Several years from the late 1990's until 2006 Amateur Radio had a presence in the Canal Days Marine Heritage Festival held annually in Port Colborne. The Canal Day Festival which began in 1979 commemorates the origin of the Welland Canal and its subsequent development over the last nearly 180 years. The Festival features tall ships, boat cruises, marine museum displays, an antique cars show, live bands, kite flying and many other attractions for both adults and children. Several thousand people come to Canal Days every year from all over Niagara, Western New York and Southern Ontario. For the last several years it has been held on Civic Holiday weekend.
Originally the Welland County Amateur Radio Club (WCARC) and the Rose City Sr. Wireless Society saw this as an excellent opportunity to publicize the hobby and to demonstrate through a special event station, what Amateur Radio is all about. It was also a chance to talk about the public service aspect of Amateur Radio, including the ARES network covering Niagara Hospitals. There was also participation from members of NPARC and in later years, after the WCARC closed down NPARC was the main sponsor. It was always emphasized that the main objective of this event was social, both among hams participating and the public.
The Canal Days Festival takes place in many areas of Port Colborne, along the Canal on West St. and Lock 8 Park, the museum grounds and H.H. Knoll Park near the marina. The Amateur Radio Special Event Station and Display have changed locations several times over the years. The objective was to be situated where it would get the greatest exposure from the crowds but also where and HF Station could be set up. There was always a compromise as one could imagine.
The frrst location was at H.H. Knoll Park, where the antique car show was held. This was a large area with large crowds of people and enough room to set up a station. Unfortunately the public address system for the car show plus the other events such as kite flying, made it difficult to attract much attention to the Amateur Radio display station. The station was set up near the entrance to the park using the COBRA trailer and call signs VE3WCA and VA3RCO. The station operated in this location up to and including 2002.
The year 2003 marked the 25th anniversary of Canal Days and the station and display were set up on the Museum Grounds. The WCARC applied for and obtained a special event call sign VC3XXV (25 in Roman Numerals) and this was publicized in both TCA and QST. While space allotted to the group was tight in the Museum Grounds, there was enough room to erect a 30 foot tower on a small trailer with a element HF beam. The station made 271 contacts in 31 States, 3 Provinces and 7 other countries. Sixty-five of those contacts sent QSL cards and they received a very attractive QSL card prepared especially for the 25th anniversary.
The station and display were located at the museum again in 2004, using a new call sign VE3WCD (Welland Canal Days), applied for specifically for this event to be used each year. We had to be located in a less populated area of the museum due to space needs of paying Vendors, so we had very few "walk by" visitors. We made 107 contacts and received 26 QSLs and everyone participating had an enjoyable time.
In 2005 we moved to Lock 8 Park, a new venue for the Festival. There are plenty of trees in this park for antennas, however there were fewer people visiting this area since it was a new Canal Days venue. The special event station was again quite successful with 130 QSOs and 20 QSLs received.
We noticed beginning 2004 that it was becoming more difficult to find volunteers who could participate in the Amateur Radio Event. This was partly because Canal Days takes place in August on the long weekend when many people have family and other activities underway, myself included. There was also a feeling that possibly there was a declining interest after nearly 10 years of involvement in the Canal Days Festival. The last special event station was run in 2006 but with limited participation.
Overall Amateur Radio participation in the Canal Days Marine Heritage Festival was a great success, and those who turned out to help run the special event station and the demonstrations had fun socializing and just having a day to get together. It also provided the opportunity to practice setting up portable stations in different locations, much like Field Day and ARES exercises. While it is somewhat sad to see this event come to an end, those who took part over the years know that it was a lot of fun and that it did give us more exposure to the public. Possibly someone will step forward to re-activate the event in the future.
I would like to acknowledge the Amateurs who participated over the years, and if I have left anyone out please be assured that it was an unintentional oversight.
John VA3QL, Ben VA3BGC,John VA3BOZ,Vince VA3DV, John VA3JFB, Jim VA3JV , Alvin VA3LVN, Roy VA3NP, Peter VA3PKV (now VE3HM), Sharon VA3SMG, Dave VA3UL, Jim VE3AEL, Dave VE3BBN, Brian VE3BMX, Joe VE3BQF, Aurel VE3BTT(sk), Dave VE3DVE, Bill VE3EBN, Dave VE3FOI, Fred VE3FOO, Fred VE3FRC(sk), John VE3GBA, Tom VE3HM(sk), Doug VE3JDF, Conrad VE3LOS, Tom VE3LT, Ron VE3MX, Ruth VE3MMX, Jake VE3NCL, Ron E3NDI, Ron VE3RYN, John VE3UCS(sk), Mike VE3VMP, and George VE3YD.
73 Doug Frame VE3JFD Canal Days Coordinator 2001 to 2006.
