D.A.R. Boys' & Girls' Club of Marinette/Menominee Thank you for stopping by. We are proud of our very unique program involving ham radio and the youngsters of the Club. We have experienced much growth since our inception on 1/31/06, and are continually evolving. Our new vanity callsign and presence on the web and the airwaves have given us much recognition throughout the U.S., Canada, and in various areas of the world. Our young operators, under the guidance of KG8CX, KS8O, and this summer, W9LEG, are learning about geography, interesting facts about the people and areas they talk to, good basic communication techniques and general ham radio electronic fundamentals. Twelve DAR youngsters have earned FCC licenses and upgrades. Latest to get theirs are: Anna KC9QCQ, Derek KD8LQB, and Abbey KC9QNR. Enjoy these pages, and come back often.

D.A.R. Hams

Since 2006, twelve young hams have been licensed. #12 is Abbey passed her exam on 9/19 and received her call on 9/28, KC9QNR. A fine bunch of youngsters and we are proud of their accomplishments.

State Award Plaques

Shown here are awards from both state councils of Boys & Girls Clubs in Michigan and Wisconsin for the most outstanding program of any club. Getting two in one year from two states is quite rare. We are very proud of them and our outstanding ham radio program for youth.

Updated K8DAR Ham Radio Room

We have substantially improved the ham radio room this summer, with the addition of 2 computers. We now have 3 connected to the internet. Two complete HF radio positions, and 2 vhf rigs, for a total of 4 ham radios available for use. We also have a code key and reader for those interested in CW. Lloyd W9LEG and Gayle W9GCG helped out this summer and made it a productive and most interesting one. Note our new QSL card.l

1st Day of Summer Session, 2009

As you can see, it didn't take long for the radio room to become active once again. 6/8/09

Our Current 2009 Card

Our cards are printed by Cheapqsls a ham oriented family operation...highly recommended ----------------------------------------------------------------- The K8DAR Ham Radio Room Youth of the Month will be a regular feature of this site. Click here to see the name and photo of this month's featured youngster. Click here to see more K8DAR radio activity

Cross Section of Young Operators

Many of these youngsters still return to the K8DAR radio room from time to time to experience the "magic of ham radio."

-- Working with the future of Ham Radio --

....CQ, CQ, CQ this is K8DAR at the DAR Boys and Girls club in Menominee, Michigan calling CQ and standing by for a call....*Current News* KC9QCQ, KD8LQB, and KC9QNR, our newest hams. ....Twelve DAR kids now licensed hams....2006 was our first year of operation, which proved very successful. Among the highlights were the licensing of three young hams.....In 2007, we celebrated our 1st anniversary and licensed three more... In 2008, three youngsters received their Technician licenses, and one Extra upgrade. Andl then, in 2009, three more. 105 DX countries have been contacted so far, with confirming qsl cards for 21 of them. Come and see our K8DAR radio room, with TWO HF OPERATING POSITIONS, and TWO VHF/UHF POSITIONS, and three computer systems...We continue to be very "Radio-Active" world-wide from our continually evolving radio room at the D.A.R. Boys/Girls Club. We are planning a 5 year reunion and special event station in 2011. Shown on these pages are photos of the excitement generated by the addition of ham radio at the DAR facility. The seed was planted in 2005 in conversations between the DAR director and radio club member, Paul Drees, WC9E. Paul was instrumental in getting multiple pieces of ham gear and the R7 antenna donated from families of two silent keys that had belonged to the M&M ARC. The station is sponsored and staffed by members of the M&M Amateur Radio Club and hosted by the staff of the D.A.R. club and its director Rich Crevier. Thanks to the families of W8ZPU and KB9EUV, who donated the R7 antenna, the HF radio/power supply and other essential radio gear in their memory, to KC8WJO who donated the Heil Goldline microphone, and to K7PAM and K8ZLO who provided funds for 2 HTs, a world map, and antenna switch. Contributing to the advancement of the K8DAR radio room were KB9VXJ, KD8ESH, K7LT, and W9DWG among other M&M ARC members. Also, we appreciate the donation of $1210 from the M&M Foundation and $500 from the American Legion, which enabled us to provide additional radio equipment and materials to enhance the "excitement of ham radio." We received a Kenwood 440 HF rig and some ATV and digital gear from N9JFC. We are especially grateful to the families of KB9IMX and N9UGG for donations of radio gear and funds for upgrading our radio center. Tlhanks also to Lloyd W9LEG for computer donations and other improvements. We are indebted to their generosity, and to the efforts of WC9E, and members of the M&M Amateur Radio Club HAT team, which has enabled the DAR station to become a reality. We would also like to thank Dave, W9DWG for the two "Breakfast on the Farm" events which have netted over $700 for the DAR radio room fund. We have earned four major state awards in Michigan for our outstanding program. DAR stands for "Daughters of American Revolution, a group that started a club for children 94 years ago, in order to keep young boys off the streets. The current facility provides after school and summer activities for boys and girls including a full gym, outdoor sports, playground, arts and crafts, computer room, robotics, chess, board games, teen room, quilting, a wood crafts room, as well as amateur radio. A new ball diamond has been constructed, and the 1st floor is now completly air conditioned. Page 1 2009 Photos, 2008 Photos -------------------------------------------------------- Countries Worked click to see our current count --------------------------------------------------------- ARRL Hello the ham radio awareness project. We also recommend and use the ARRL Technician, General and Extra manuals. --------------------------------------------------------- South Africa youth related site with connections to K8DAR ------------------------------------------------------------ Boys & Girls Clubs of America ---------------------------------------------------------- Heil We use the Goldline dual element for all HF contacts ------------------------------------------------------------ Gordon West We also use his books for license study and upgrades.. ------------------------------------------------------------ K8DAR radio room operating areas ------------------------------------------------------------- 2007 photos --------------------------------------------------------------- Youth of the Month awards ----------------------------------------------------------------

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