When you visit ARRL Headquarters in Newington, Connecticut, the first smiling face you’re likely to see is a tour guide. ARRL’s Tour Guide program now includes 19 volunteers who donate thousands of hours of their free time per year, giving tours to hundreds of visitors.

ARRL’s tour guides are an integral part of the ARRL. When not giving tours, they are busy accomplishing tasks in various HQ departments -- sorting QSL cards, working on special projects in the lab, updating the periodicals archive, and much, much more.

A thank you lunch was held for ARRL volunteers recently at a nearby restaurant. ARRL President Kay Craigie, N3KN, sent this message of appreciation:

“Since the ARRL began nearly 100 years ago, the engine that has powered our organization is volunteers. There is no way the staff at ARRL Headquarters, talented and dedicated though they are, could do everything for ham radio that the ARRL needs to do. Volunteers all over the country have contributed millions of hours of service since the ARRL began.

“You are part of that great history of volunteering that goes all the way back to 1914. When you lead a tour, you put a friendly individual human face on what can be misunderstood as a big, impersonal institution. I try to do the same thing in my contacts with members. You and I are working towards the same goal of helping members understand the League better and appreciate it more. When you are able to work on other tasks and projects besides guiding tours, that is also important and appreciated. The ARRL is lucky to have you on our team, and I thank you for choosing to devote some of your personal time to introducing members to their ARRL.”

A special thank you to all the current ARRL volunteer tour guides:

Marc Goldstein, K8LSB; Richard Claing, W1RGC; George Carbonell, N1RMF; Skip Colton, W1FTE; Al Gerke,  N1JWF; David Kaplan, WA1OUI; Ethel Kramer, KB1NMO; Len Cowles, K1PYU; Carey Harmon, KB1SCS; Jim Todd, WB1GIE; Dan Arnold, W1CNI; Paul Ciezniak, K1SEZ; Stew Gillmor, W1FK; Rudy Gaydos, KA1QOJ; Martin Ewing, AA6E; Marie Fredrickson, KB1TFU; Alan Karenko, N1OX; Mike McKaughan, K1DM, and Mike White, W1RSX.

And thanks, too, to all who have served since 2006 when the volunteer tour guide program began.

Take a Tour

Tours of the Administrative Headquarters of ARRL and the Maxim Memorial Station, W1AW, are given between 9 AM and 3 PM weekdays except holidays. Large groups should make arrangements a week in advance by writing to the Membership Services Department, ARRL, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111, or by calling 860-594-0200. For more information, see www.arrl.org/visit-us. -- Diane Petrilli, KB1RNF, ARRL Membership Manager