CARS Ham Swap Meet 2024

The annual CARS Swap Meet took place on Saturday, April 27 at the Savannah Airport Recreation Center. The gate was open when club members arrived at 0630, so we were able to get club HQ set up and ready to go. Bill, W4ZDP, set up the club table and the sound equipment for the event. Mike, KM4SPL, helped set up the raffle ticket sales tent and got that up and running. Russ, K4YGD, showed up in time to have a seat. The gnat and mosquitos were well-fed during the first couple of hours until the sun came out.

It didn’t take long for folks to start arriving and setting up their tables to display electronic goodies for sale. Michael, KN4WQH, arrived and he and Mike went up front to direct traffic and get people set up in the correct configuration. Without these two coordinating the entrance, we would have had a mess. Lowell, NY4D, and Kevin KW4B arrived early to help get things going. Kevin also set up his telescope to take a protected look at the sun. Ralph, KM4MCL, brought drinks and sweet treats for club workers and sales to the participants. Being the Hospitality Committee Chairman, Ralph always blesses us with good food and sustenance.

Throughout the day, Russ worked feverishly to sell raffle tickets to the participants. Billy, KG4SZS, the club Treasurer, had already been selling tickets online for months ahead of the meet. His ability to streamline the process and update our ability to take payments of all kinds has been a huge benefit to the club. Russ was able to sell almost as many tickets Saturday morning as Billy did online. Jack, NW4TF, our President, gave out smaller prizes throughout the day. The winners of the smaller prizes got their tickets resubmitted for the larger prizes at the end of the event. This way, everyone who bought tickets had a chance at the big game!!

Up for the big prizes were:

Yaesu FTM 6000 (Won by Bill NeSmith W4ZDP)
Yaesu 891 (Won by Shane McCray KQ4DDL)
Yaesu 710 (Won by Brian Thaxton K4BST)

There were great deals to be found all around the field. I saw many folks heading to their vehicles with “new to them” treasures to be stowed away. Jack was able to lighten the load of the club storage unit as well. All in all, it appeared that people had a good time whether they bought anything or not. Many people were able to see and catch up with old friends they hadn’t seen since last year’s event. The weather was beautiful, and we were very thankful.

The CARS club would like to thank the Savannah Airport Commission for allowing us to use this facility. It is a great location for this event and their hospitality does not go unnoticed. We would also like to thank Stage Front, who through their employee and club member Bill NeSmith, provided sound equipment for us to announce prizes and other information. They have been very generous in helping us out with equipment for various needs. We also need to recognize, Jack Lytjen, our president, and Lowell Rieger, the swap meet committee chairman for their tireless work in making this event happen. It takes a lot of work months ahead of time to get this coordinated and planned.