1989 YLRL Convention
1989 YLRL International Convention
5Øth Anniversary in Kauai, Hawaii – June 27th – 30th
At times it seemed that the YLRL Fiftieth Anniversary Convention would be a case of TOD FEW trying to do TOO MUCH for TOO MANY, but that was countered by the relaxed attitude of Kauai and the beautiful balmy weather, so that generally speaking, it was a very pleasant and productive event. The Cocoa Palms Hotel is beautiful; set in lovely grounds, including a real coconut plantation. Headquarters for YLRL Convention activity was one end of the spacious lobby. Over 140 YLs and more than fifty OMs were present to enjoy a full program of activities and meetings as well as lots of meeting and reminiscing with people who belonged to familiar voices. Those attending were made welcome by the local Kauai Radio Club and invited to visit and operate from the Club station a few miles north of the hotel.
6 Full convention activities began with the presentations of the DXYLs on Wednesday evening. Ten countries were represented, with the twelve-member Japanese delegation being the largest. Both the President and Vice-president of the JLRS, Chizue Yamada, JA1EYL, and Yasuko Tanaka, JF1 IZM were present. Each of the twelve Japanese YLs spoke briefly in English, and the group brought a gorgeous hand-made quilt to be included in the prize raffle.
Germany was represented by Christa Elksnat, DJ1TE, and Friedel Meissner, DK6FM, while Gianna Capitani, I1IEP, brought greetings from Italy. Gianna also brought a plaque made of engraved slate and carrying a message from the people of her home town, Genoa, the home town of Christopher Columbus. Sylvia Whitehead, G4VET, and Sheila Gabriel, G3HCQ, brought good wishes and gift scarves from the members of BYLARA in the British Isles. Sweden had one of the larger delegations with five women attending the convention. Raija Lilin, SMOHNV, Kirsten Bengtsson, SM5EUU, Agneta Anderlund, SM5IL0, Gunilia Forsman, SM5CXC, and Birgitta Astrom, SMDFIB, were dressed in traditional costumes of their country and presented slides showing spring scenes in Sweden. To accompany the pictures, they sang beautifully of the flowers of their land. Greta Hubacher, HB9ARC, was present from Switzerland, and Nellie Lazard, XE1CI, described her radio activities in her country of Mexico. Two VE YLs, Truus Rosenthal, VE3MRS, and Elizabeth Anderson, VE7YL, gave a bit of their background in amateur radio and were obviously recognized by the audience for the veteran operators they are.
New Zealand had a sizeable delegation including the President of their national organization Carol Gaudin, ZL2VQ. Attending the convention with her were Aola Johnston, ZL1ALE, Winifred Barr, ZL1BBN, Cathy Purdy, ZL2ADK, and Biny Owen, ZL2AZY. They too entertained, singing a Maori song and then a translation of it, which were beautifully done. On Thursday morning the YL Forum was ably chaired by President Mary Lou and well attended by YLRL members with plenty of suggestions for improving or expanding the organization. Most prominent ideas presented were that: all YLRL members get on the air more often and mention YLRL to other YLs they meet on the air. novices be made aware of YLRL and its advantages as soon as they are licensed. YLRL members be more active in their local amateur radio clubs and make the other club members aware of YLRL. Some of the long-time members of YLRL noted that these same suggestions are made at each Forum and it is now time to work harder at putting them into practice. 7 The Hawaiian quilt was displayed by Vai, KH6QI, who commented on its symbols and construction. It is a truly beautiful piece of work which reflects great credit on everyone who had a part in its creation. The convention photograph of the entire group following the Forum in the room the hotel called “The Hall”. While it would probably have served very well ings, it was a dark and difficult setting in which to large group. The young man who was commissioned to of YLs was taken Queen’s Audience for royal gatherphotograph such a do the job seemed unprepared for the size of the group and somewhat intimidated by so many women, but he gamely “coped”. However, he probably should have taken more time to see that every person would be equally visible in the finished photo. The YL-OM Luncheon which followed was a thoroughly pleasant gettogether which included a tasty meal in a nicely appointed dining room. Mary Lou did a great job of the “after lunch” comments, introducing past presidents of YLRL, the president and vice-president of the local radio club and many other significant folk as well as accepting greetings from various YL groups not represented in person.
The raffle of prizes was most ably conducted by Madeline, I1I2EE0, and OM, W2LH. (Just the logistical problems of getting the many prizes to Kauai must have been quite a challenge!) The loom 2-AT hand-held was won by Joan McDonnell, WA6QKC, of Thousand Oaks, CA and the J-Pole by Ruth Jank, K50PT, of San Antonio, TX. The Hawaiian quilt went to Nancy Muth, NDKBW with the winning ticket being sold by Margaret, KOIQ both of Colorado. The beautiful quilt contributed by the Japanese YLs was won by yours truly Elizabeth, KA6NZK, who is still feeling dazed by her good fortune. This is truly a work of art which I would like you all to be able to see, so I will try to find a way to display it at future YL and other gatherings. Among other special presentations at the luncheon were a plaque from New Zealand WARO and a check for $150. for the scholarship fund from WRONE which was brought by Anne Manna, WB1ARU. The Luau which closed the convention was all that had been promised and I didn’t hear a single negative comment. The setting was a beautiful garden, the meal was delicious and included some of the traditional island foods such as poi. The end of the festive evening was a dramatic presentation about the gathering of various Pacific rim peoples to become the people of the Island of Kauai. All in all it was a very memorable gathering. XXX
