W2LJ's Blog - QRP - Do More With Less.

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Skeeter Hunt - NPOTA News

Posted: 30 Dec 2015 03:57 PM PST
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Several things:

First - The NJQRP Skeeter Hunt for 2016 is moving from the second Sunday in
August to the third. So please mark Sunday, August 21st on your calendar
for this year's Skeeter Hunt. There are two reasons for this. The most
important is that yours truly has an outstanding monthly commitment each
2nd Sunday of the month. That's the Sunday I go help out at the soup
kitchen in the next town over. I kind of blew that off the past couple of
Augusts, and that's not right. There are some things more important than
Amateur Radio, and this is one of those.

But hey, the organizer shouldn't go AWOL, right? (That's how I feel,
anyway). So I have moved it back a weekend to the third Sunday in August,
where it shall occur forever more. Another added benefit is that this
makes the spacing between Flight of the Bumblebees, the Skeeter Hunt and
QRP Afield and the Peanut Power Sprint a bit more even.

Second - I have gotten blessing from Sean Kutzko KX9X to incorporate NPOTA
into the NJQRP Skeeter Hunt this year. Is that COOL or what? I'm not
exactly sure how it's going to all work out. Maybe bonus points for
activating an NPOTA unit for the Hunt - or possibly some special "memento"
for activating an NPOTA unit during the Hunt. I'll have to ruminate on
that one for a bit - but there's time.



Third - On a personal level, Sean announced some new NPOTA units the other
day. This was a biggie for me, because in the Northeast, the Washington -
Rochambeau Historical Trail was added. This is the route taken by General
Rochambeau's French forces and General Washington's Continental forces as
they both marched on towards the siege at Yorktown, which all but brought
the American victory in the Revolutionary War.


The Washington - Rochambeau Historical Trail is within a stone's throw from
my house - literally. To make this situation even better, there is the
Frazee house located on the trail in Scotch Plains, NJ - the next town
over. Rather than try and explain the significance of the Frazee house in
my own words - allow me to post something from the official Website.


"As the legend holds, after the Battle of Short Hills, General
Cornwallis and his troops passed by the house while marching toward the
Watchung mountains, located a few miles to the north. Known to the locals
as a prolific baker, Aunt Betty was baking bread at the time. Hungry and
tired, the troops smelled the bread and Cornwallis approached her
stating, "I want the first loaf of bread that next comes from that oven."
Betty is said to have replied, “Sir, I give you this bread through fear,
not in love.” Evidently impressed by her courage, Cornwallis is said to
have stated, “Not a man in my command shall touch a single loaf.” While
history offers evidence that Betty lived in the house and did, indeed,
bake bread, the story of the actual conversation is not authenticated by
primary source documents. The words allegedly spoken by the principals
are found in the earliest authoritative source on the subject, F.W.
Ricord's History of Union County, page 513, which is one of the sources
cited in the National Register of Historic Places filing that led to the
Frazee House being placed on the Register."


I'll have to look onto getting permission to operate from the property that
the house is on. If that's not obtainable, there are plenty of other
locations that can be operated from on the Trail, right in my local area.
In fact, right in front of the Ashbrook Golf Course, is a monument to The
Battle of Short Hills.

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!