Marti Talbott
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User 'marke_db1usr' has exceeded the 'max_questions' resource (current value: 1)Articles > Recreation and Sports- The Forgotten Heroes
by: Marti Talbott
On Good Friday, March 27, l964 approximately 12,000 square miles of the Alaskan seafloor shifted causing one of the worst earthquakes in US history. When the shock waves subsided and the massive tsunami receded, loss of life and injuries were compounded by yet another tragedy -- a total communications blackout.
Then at last, a lone Ham Radio Operator managed to send a message -- a cry for help that was repeated by other Hams and sent all over the world.
History is rich with stories of Hams - 1996 a fierce lightning storm in Oregon/California, 1998 Flooding in Texas and Hurricane Bonnie, 1998 Ice Storm in Canada, 1999 Hurricane Floyd/Earthquake in Taiwan - and the list goes on.
So what happened to Ham (Amateur) Radio Operators and why don't we hear about them anymore? Believe it or not, they still live among us and they're still responding to cries for help, up to and including 9/11 and the 2002 fires in Colorado.
The world wrongly assumes that with the Internet and cell phones, we no longer need Hams. But disasters cut electricity and cell phones need working towers every three miles. Yet Internet search engines list Amateur Radio sites under "hobbies," a classification totally unwarranted and highly resented.
Hams are a lot more than high school kids fiddling with radios. They are a network of highly trained people -- men and woman of all ages who are willing to drop whatever they are doing to look for a lost child or aid overworked emergency personnel. Like an old-fashioned fire brigade, they pass the information bucket from one to another warning of severe weather conditions, hazardous spills, railroad disasters and much, much more.
Ham Radio Operators are indeed forgotten heroes, but they shouldn't be. Every year they meet in groups all over the world to train for the next major disaster. Yet sadly, their numbers are dwindling - in evidence on hospital "help wanted" bulletin boards all over the America. Sad indeed will be the day they aren't there when we need them.
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News on Recreation and Sports
Southwest Recreation Center named outstanding sports facility Students work out in Southwest Recreational Center on Thursday afternoon. The gym was one of nine recognized by the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association as an outstanding sports facility. Hershey Company provides scholarship money for Palmyra Area Recreation and Parks Commission The Hershey Co. will provide scholarship money to the Palmyra Area Recreation and Parks Commission for recreational programs and sports camps for economically disadvantaged Palmyra Area School District youths. Recreation & Sports/Recreational The administrative office for Recreation Activities is located in the basement of Little Hall, Building 2034, Barnett Avenue. The program offers a wide variety of recreational activities designed to help patrons stay in shape and enjoy their leisure time. Sports clubs hold badminton friendlies KUCHING: A team of 12 shuttlers from the Sebuyau Sub-district Combined Recreation and Sports club had a badminton [...] Sports organisations to have their grants cut SPORTS organisations in Basingstoke and Deane are expected to be hit with an average five per cent cut in funding from the borough council for the next financial year.
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