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Guy Lombardo Special Event

In honor of bandleader Guy Lombardo's 100th birthday a special amateur radio day will be held at the London Senior Radio Club Station at Parkwood Hospital on Wednesday, June 19th. The station call will be VA3GLM.

Members of the London Vintage Radio Club, the London Amateur Radio Club and the London Senior's Amateur Radio Club will operate the senior's club station, which has been made available through Parkwood Hospital. The event will also honor other London musicians and dance bands to celebrate London's rich musical heritage.

Amateur radio is a particularly appropriate medium in recognizing Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians since this band was one of the first to take advantage of the potential of radio in promoting themselves to wider audiences. From their initial 1922 broadcast on their hometown station in London the band moved on to ever greater popularity on the Cleveland, Chicago and New York airwaves. Guy Lombardo's unique New Year's Eve radio and television broadcasts are well remembered and well loved by fans.

"I don't suppose we ever made a more important investment in time or effort than that gratuitous engagement on radio", Guy wrote in his 1975 autobiography, Auld Acquaintance. "I knew we were sounding more like a fine orchestra every day. The radio listeners confirmed it."

The Parkwood Hospital station of the London Senior Amateur Radio Club will go on the air at 10 a.m., local time, using the 80, 40 and 20 meter amateur bands. We will continue making contacts into the evening, as band conditions permit. Several amateurs and invited guests will operate the station. Our beam will be primarily directed to United States where there is the greatest interest in Guy Lombardo and the big band era. Amateur radio operators from across the world are encouraged to contact the London station to relate their experiences with the big band era and share memories and feelings relating to Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians.

The event was inspired by a special event station operated by amateurs in the Toronto area to recognize Camp X, a WW2 espionage training center in Whitby, Ontario.

To attend this event, members of the media should please RRSP Laura Dockstader of the Communications Department of Parkwood Hospital at 685-4000 ext. 42470.

Have a happy New Year everybody!

For additional information, please contact:

Stephen Harding, VA3NSD of the London Amateur Radio Club

(519) 451-8252, sharding@uwo.ca