Special Event Station To Mark Departure of Mother-In-Law

EAST YORKVILLE, Pennsylvania — A local ham will celebrate a family milestone next week as he activates a special event station using a 1×1 formatted call sign. Thomas LaFontana of Nottingham Township will use call sign W3M to celebrate the end of an extended visit by his mother-in-law.

“She’s been here since before Thanksgiving, for Pete’s sake,” says LaFontana. “I’ve endured about all I can stand.”

LaFontana’s mother-in-law has been sleeping in the guest room of his two story Tudor style home, which he shares with his wife, two kids and a Yaesu FT-1000MP.

“The guest room is next to the spare bedroom which houses my shack. Each evening when I get on the air and start working DX, she bangs on the wall and yells ‘BE QUIET WITH THAT CB GADGET!’ I’ve tried to explain to her the difference, but she won’t listen. It’s starting to grate on my nerves.”

The 52 year-old ham was forced to skip the November Sweepstakes, CQWPX and ARRL DX contests so he could spend “quality time” with the elderly woman, who is visiting from Bakersfield, Arizona.

“She sat around talking about how bad she had it during the Great Depression,” said LaFontana. “All I could think about were the QSOs I WASN’T making. That’s what I call a great depression!”

LaFontana says he’ll activate W3M on March 17, when he sees the taxi’s tail lights pulling away.

By WBØRUR, on the scene

### www.hamhijinks.com

photo credit: Neil. Moralee A lot has happened since 1925 via photopin (license)