Advertisement
“I’m 96 years old and a graduate of Tulane University,” the voice said.
 |
Len Litven operates a ham radio to promote the Great River Shakespeare Festival Saturday in Winona. The Winona Amateur Radio Club will broadcast today from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Winona State University’s campus. (Photo by Paul Solberg/Winona Daily News) |
Len Litvan beckoned people over as he wrote down the information.
“I’ve never spoken to someone who was 96 over the radio before,” Litvan said into the microphone. “It’s a beautiful day here in Winona, this is WØNE.”
The Winona Amateur Radio Club gathered Saturday for its fourth year broadcasting live from the Great River Shakespeare Festival on Winona State University’s campus.
For the first time, they’ve adopted the event-specific call sign N2B, a play on Shakespeare’s famous words, “To be or not to be.”
The purpose of broadcasting live from the festival — club officer Terry Peterson called it special event broadcasting — is to raise awareness of both the festival and the club.
“What you’re seeing right now is a small drop in the bucket,” Peterson, a member of the club since 1974, said. “There are so many things we can do.”
Immediately after August’s floods, the club was out with their radios, allowing community members in Rushford, Minn., and beyond to check on loved ones.
“We do it every time there’s a disaster,” former club president Darlene Tagliapietra said. “It’s such a good-natured group; if you ask someone to help out, they all raise their hands.”
Tagliapietra came out with her husband, Lance, the current club president, and her three kids — Jennifer, 11, Leo, 4, and Josephine, 18 months.
“We turn this into a family event,” Tagliapietra said.
Broadcasting will continue from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. today at the gazebo in Winona State’s courtyard.
The club meets at 7 p.m. on the third Thursday of each month in the basement of the courthouse annex.
