Hyack Parade - May 2008

Two members of the White Rock Amateur Radio Club acted as operators for the annual Hyack Parade in New Westminster, May 24, 2008.  Stuart (VA7CRH) was assigned to a shuttle bus, and Ross (VA7NRW) was assigned to shadow the executive director of the event.  In all there were about 20 operators at various posts, net control was Doug (VE7WLF).  The Surrey VHF repeater was used as the primary frequency and worked well, with some minor glitches.

The Hyack parade features floats from all over the Pacific Northwest of the USA, as well as all sorts of bands – notably the Police Bagpipe Band.  The weather cooperated as it was sunny following a few cool days, so the temperature was absolutely perfect.

Having ham operators at key places proved to smooth things out immeasurably.  While shuttling some participants to the assembly area, for instance, VA7CRH heard a call ffrom net control for someone to stop by the Hyack main office to pick up the forgotten magnetic signs for the dignitaries’ automobiles.  Shuttle #2 just happened to be half a block from the office.  Since they would not start the parade until the dignitaries in convertibles were properly identified, this helped immeasurably.  VA7NRW reported that the executive director did far less roaming around checking on sites because she knew she was in direct contact with all the key points of the parade.

All in all a fun day for each and every participant.  Many thanks to the Surrey Club for their organization and use of the repeater.  Both Ross and Stuart said they would do it again.