Fwd: Smartsfest 2021
Russ Ramirez
From: Monte Casebier <ad...@hotmail.com>
Date: Mon, Aug 9, 2021, 6:20 AM
Subject: Smartsfest 2021
To:
SMARTSFEST 2021
Saturday, September 18, 2021
Cologne Community Center
Cologne, MN
Dear Friends,
The SMARTS Radio Club cordially invites you to join us for SMARTSFEST 2021.
Our hamfest will be returning to the Cologne Community Center in Cologne MN on Saturday, September 18, 2021. The Community Center is conveniently located just South of Highway 212 on County Road 53. This places it only 40 minutes Southwest of downtown Minneapolis. It offers convenient loading/unloading areas, plenty of parking, and lots of air-conditioned space for exhibits and merchandise. Our indoor space ensures that the event will be held rain or shine.
Hamfests are a great opportunity for radio amateurs to check out new gear, find parts for their next project or just talk with other hams. QSL card checking will be available for anyone chasing an ARRL sponsored award. Our guest speaker, Jeff Walker AA0IJ will be joining us for a short presentation on “Many Ways to Improve Your Amateur Radio Hobby”. Jeff will share his history with ham radio and discuss the current and future activities available within the hobby. Our Project Showcase is returning this year for another round of fun “builder” themed activities to help promote creativity and experimentation. Entry of a project into the showcase is free with paid admission to the hamfest. We encourage you to bring a radio related project to share for an extra chance to win a prize. There are a lot of great prizes to give away thanks to the generosity of our sponsors. We are also hopeful that we be able to sponsor VE testing for anyone wanting to get into the amateur radio hobby or upgrade to a new license class. Watch the SMARTSFEST website and SMARTS Club facebook page for a preview of all the sponsors and their contributions.
As you are aware, hamfest activities have been quite different the eighteen months. Like many of you, we have been monitoring the status of COVID-19 related conditions to better prepare for returning to our regular activities. We have been actively working with the Cologne Community Center staff to ensure that we can adhere to the guidelines established by the State of Minnesota as well as the recommendations of other Health and Safety Organizations. We will be making every effort to ensure that vendors and guests can enjoy the event as safely as possible. We will continue to monitor these guidelines and adjust our safety measures as we get closer to September.
To help support the Amateur Radio hobby we are offering a complementary table to radio clubs and groups that would like to share information about themselves or their cause. Please note that no sales are permitted from club/group information tables. See the SMARTSFEST website for information. Also, with restrictions on public events being reduced, we are expecting a larger than usual attendance and encourage everyone to pre-register to help us plan accordingly. Please share with your friends and favorite vendors to make sure that no one misses out.
Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns. We hope to see you in September.
Thanks and 73,
Monte Casebier (AD0DB)
SMARTSFEST Chairperson
620 N Linden Street
Belle Plaine, MN 56011
https://www.facebook.com/SmartsRadioClub
Cell Phone: 612-889-5134