The 2020 St. Patrick’s Day Hamfest is set for March 21st, 2020. Mark your calendars NOW to attend.

You can find all the info on the hamfest website at https://hamfest.w5qgg.org/. Take advantage of the Early Bird Special until December 31 to save $5 on The Package Deal. Just enter “5off” at checkout.

We are also raffling off the latest Elecraft top of the line transceiver, the K4, at the hamfest. For more info and to purchase your raffle ticket you can go directly to the raffle page on the hamfest website at https://k4raffle.w5qgg.org.

We look forward to seeing you at the hamfest!

The September Monthly General Membership Meeting will be held on Monday, September 16, 2019.  The meeting has been moved to the 3^rd Monday of the month.  Our special guest will be Mr. John Stratton, N5AUS, the Acting Director for the West Gulf Division of the ARRL.  His talk will cover the change of direction of the Board of Directors that has taken place during this last year.  John is running for the next term as Director and has served several years as the Vice Director.

On the weekend of July 20th & 21st the Midland ARC and Big Spring ARC provided communications for the annual Bike MS Cactus and Crude Ride from Midland to Lubbock. A total of 23 MARC and BSARC hams participated.

A total 213 riders left the starting line at the Apache office in Midland at 7:10 am Saturday morning. The first riders arrived in Lamesa at 9:42 am. The ride continued on Sunday morning with 206 riders leaving Lamesa at 7:00 am with the first riders arriving at the Caprock Winery in Lubbock at 9:50 am.

Midland County Sheriff Gary W. Painter, K5GWP, ended his watch and became a silent key on May 26, 2019.   After graduating from High School, Gary joined the Marine Corp and served two tours of duty in Vietnam.  In 1985 he was elected Sheriff in Midland County and 34 years later was still serving the people of Midland County at the time of his passing.

The 64th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Hamfest was a big success! We had a great turnout with lots of good deals, forums, and eyeball QSOs! Hope you didn’t miss it! Check out the hamfest photos in the gallery.