Man Found In Hara Arena, Days After Hamvention Ends
By K5KVN, on the scene
DAYTON, Ohio — A Vermont amateur radio operator was found today in a remote hallway within the Hara Arena complex, three days after the end of Hamvention. Officials at a news conference identified the man as Gerry Mapleshire and described him as being found “disoriented, hungry, and with three days of beard growth.”
After medical technicians on the scene revived his blood sugar by providing him a leftover $6 Hamvention Hotdog, Mapleshire recalled what happened.
“It was shoulder-to-shoulder on the arena floor. I remember a nice-looking lady handing me a free Kenwood cloth bag full of brochures and a lapel pin, then the crowd shifted and I was pushed into the MFJ booth,” said Mapleshire.
He says that’s when his “survival instincts” kicked in.
“I got on my hands and knees and crawled out of the MFJ booth. I got to the arena floor ramp but the crowd was so thick. I somehow ended up in a hall by the loading docks, without my Kenwood bag,” he said.
He wandered through dark hallways trying to find his way out of the vast complex for three days before a maintenance worker found him. “I called for help on 146.520 but no one answered,” said Mapleshire.
Hamvention information deputy Ned Doubtman investigated why his radio call went unanswered. “Turns out he was transmitting WITHOUT a PL tone. Everyone here blocks out QRM by using a PL tone on transmit and receive. It’s no wonder he wasn’t heard,” said Doubtman.
Mapleshire says he’s still recovering from the traumatic experience, but would like to get in touch with someone from Kenwood so he can get his lapel pin.
### hamhijinks.com
photo credit: practicalowl via photopin cc
Well, see, we just KNOW this story is false. ““It was shoulder-to-shoulder on the arena floor.” Crowds? At Dayton? This year? My friend, he must have been there much longer than 3 days.
Not so fast TG. In a ham context, it doesn’t take a lot of ops to be “should-to-shoulder” Moreover, I do distinctly recall being swept along by a raging river of Hamanity, saved only by a lucky swipe as I passed the massive carboy of peanut butter cups bolted to the Alpha booth. An armful of these sustained me briefly until I was dragged back into the Maelstrom and swept out onto a loading dock crowded with smokers, malcontents, wild-eyed visionaries and Grid Square Collectors eating lunch from Bento boxes so compartmentalized each grain of rice had its own little corral.
Sounds apochryphyl to me, folks.