President’s Message

To all our friends in Florida and elsewhere, welcome.

The 2024 Tampa Bay Hamfest is over. Thanks to all our attendees and vendors. We always appreciate meeting you each year and look forward to December 2025 to do it all over again.

This year we again had some wonderful Florida weather. A bit cool and windy at times but it made for comfortable days to meet our old friends and make some new ones.

As was soon evident, I, Bill Williams, was unable to attend the show. My wife (my better half) is recovering from a couple of knee surgeries and has been pretty much bedridden for several weeks. She is following her surgeon’s orders not to stress her leg to avoid further damage. I quickly found my job changed from Hamfest ringmaster to full time caregiver. Sorry folks.

Our new food vendor, Uncle G’s BBQ, provided a variety of made-to-order dishes. We are grateful for him stepping in at the last minute. All reported his food was very tasty.

A reliable source told me that we should be very proud of Mike Fletcher and the rest of the FGCARC members and all the volunteers for keeping the Hamfest in order. Yes there were glitches here and there but we did the usual great job in keeping things in order. For the glitches (we have them every year) we apologize and hope no one was upset.

As said above, we very much appreciate the work of the many volunteers who stepped up to the plate this year- well done and thanks. We trust you will be able to help again in 2025. As we said in past messages, we ask our local hams to step up and volunteer to help plan and run the Tampa Bay Hamfest. There are always plenty of opportunities to help FGCARC (Florida Gulf Coast Amateur Radio Council) and we welcome all who can assist in this once-a-year effort. You can also remind your friends of the hamfest as many who do not belong to a club never seem to get the word.

Please keep in touch. We always appreciate hearing from our vendors and hams with ideas and suggestions to improve the Hamfest. Please contact me or any of our officers at https://fgcarc.org/contact-page/

All the best in the upcoming year.

Bill Williams, AG4QX
President of the Florida Gulf Coast Amateur Radio Council, Inc.
Chairman of the Tampa Bay Hamfest