As President of the PAWA, I’d like to say, in my opinion; we had a very successful Field Day in 2009! Yes, the weather was poor, to say the least (cool and heavy fog followed by partly sunny, followed by cool, heavy fog and wind, followed by fog, rain and wind). Did we have some fun? From listening to the membership and guests in attendance, I’d say we did.

First off, I’d like to thank all those that showed up for setup Saturday morning and for a very wet tear down on Sunday afternoon. We wouldn’t have Field Day without you. Next, to the dedicated group of hams that operated during the 24 hour period. Finally, to the large number of members that turned out to tour the Field Day site and participate in the annual BBQ.

I’d also like to pass on my thanks to some of the visitors we had at our site who provided us bonus points for our efforts. Jim Budway (Cumberland County EMA Director), our own David Feeney, WN1F (Cumberland County EMA Planner) and Eric Sawyer (Cumberland County EMA Assistant Planner) all of whom provided us with an additional 100 points for a visit from a served agency. Jim Rowe (Chairman of the Cape Elizabeth Town Council) who provided us with another 100 points for a visit from an elected official. Ann Kim (staff writer for the Portland Press Herald) and Jill Brady (staff photographer for the Portland Press Herald) who visited the site on Sunday and provided us with 100 points for media coverage with their fine article on page 2 of Mondays Portland Press Herald.

We have to thank John, W1JLB and George, NX1C for going out and getting the burgers, hot dogs and the fixins’ for the BBQ after setup on Saturday morning! There were some nice touches added by some of our members. One that comes to mind is Dana, W1ROM and his wife Julie bringing the “Box of Joe” and the Munchkins from Dunkin Donuts Saturday evening. That was a nice touch to warm us all up on a cool Saturday evening.

For the first time in a few years we had number of new (or relatively new) hams at Field Day. Their staying overnight provided more operators during the overnight period. They also provided us with some fresh ideas on setup, operations and comfort. Charlie, W1CPS had his “rolling maintenance vehicle” loaded up with all manner of tools and cleanup stuff (the “industrial strength” wet wipes sure came in handy!) and Charlie made a repair to the tower trailer winch which would eliminate the rubbing of the cable on the winch.. Rory, KB1PLY provided a great fire stand to keep warm during the night. Thanks to Rory, KB1PLY and his son Joe, KB1SHG for the first time in a number of years we had a hot breakfast on Sunday morning of pancakes and bacon!

Oh, as always, we did have some problems… Two that come to mind were; Peter, N1AKP was having a problem with his balls early on (no, not those – the trailer balls to tow the operating trailer – a quick change in the over sized ball to the proper one solved the problem) and the setup crew at the tower trailer were having problems with their nuts (again, get your mind out of the gutter – these were some nuts that went on bolts on the triband beam).

We won’t know for a while how we did for an overall score, but I do know we had fun, learned a few things and are probably looking forward to another Field Day next year.

Thanks to all and see you again next year!

73, Bryce, K1GAX
President