Newsmakers, June 26, 2014

Air Date:
Heard On Newsmakers

Amateur Radio Field Day; Summer Youth Programs

Featured in this Show

  • Amateur Radio Field Day

    In a time when cell phones and the internet seem to rule the information age, the amateur radio is still a necessary form of communication during time of bad weather or when an area road race is held.

    Amateur radio operators will gather this weekend north of Holmen for the annual American Radio Relay League Field Day, a chance for operators across North America to operate their equipment and talk to each other. Dan Abts is chairing the Field Day activities for the La Crosse area’s Riverland Amateur Radio Club.

    “The object of it (Field Day) is to go out in a field somewhere in less than optimal conditions and learn to operate in those conditions,” he said. “Part of it is to make sure the equipment you have still works and you can set it up in case it’s needed in an emergency.”

    Field Day is also designed to educate the public about amateur radio. The Riverland Club has helped provide communication for parades, run/walks and bike races in the Coulee Region. It also helps emergency organizations like the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army during times of emergency.

    But one of an amateur radio operator’s key functions is to help the National Weather Service with storm spotting. Todd Shea is a warning coordination meteorologist with the NWS in La Crosse.

    “We heavily rely on amateur radio operators around the region to pass along important, timely severe weather reports so we can use them in the warning process,” he said.

    The Field Day is being held in a field on A. Johnson Road near Hwy. 53, five miles north of Holmen from 1 pm Saturday June 28 until 1 pm Sunday June 29.

  • Summer Youth Programs

    Summer is a time when kids can have fun and relax from the challenges of school. But summer would also be a little chaotic if agencies that support kids weren’t around to provide a little structure.

    While the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Greater La Crosse area are there for children year-round, the focus changes from after school programming with a focus on academics during the school year, to a healthy lifestyle emphasis in the summer, complete with fun field trips each week to places like Perrot State Park and the Wisconsin Dells.

    “At the end of the summer to celebrate healthy lifestyles, we have a Club Olympics,” according to Boys and Girls Clubs of the Greater La Crosse area Executive Director Mike Desmond. The competition at UW-La Crosse features members from Boys and Girls Clubs in La Crosse, West Salem and La Crescent competing against each other in a series of games. “It’s all fun, but it’s designed to teach kids to have an active lifestyle, and not just sit behind a computer screen or in front of a TV all day,” Desmond said.

    A similar approach is taken by the Girl Scouts of Wisconsin which operates Camp Ehawee near Mindoro for young girls, and a camp for older girls near Antigo.

    “At Camp Ehawee, we have more than 50 programs for girls and parents, a lot higher occurrence of programs during the summer months,” said Christine Posey, the director of girl leadership for the Girl Scouts of Wisconsin Badgerland Council. There are single day camps for girls, and other camps where they can spend time with a special adult in their life. “Everybody can come out and really experience camp together and get a taste of what it’s like to go away to camp where girls can really build independence,” Posey said.

    Posey and Desmond are both excited for Camp Send-A-Kid coming up in mid-August at Camp Ehawee. It’s a chance for kids who wouldn’t be able to afford spending a week at a summer camp to experience what camp is like at no cost to their family.

Episode Credits

  • Maureen McCollum Host
  • John Davis Producer
  • Greg Miller Guest
  • Dan Abts Guest
  • Todd Shea Guest
  • Christine Posey Guest
  • Mike Desmond Guest