When Ralph Hess, president of the Red Rose Repeater Association (RRR), talks about the Winter Field Day the organization participates in yearly, he describes a comfortable atmosphere where the food is as important as the radio chatter. "The crowd favorite last year was that we deep-fried two turkeys," recalled Hess. "Food is always high on the list of priorities at Red Rose events."

The 2025 event, presented by RRR as a participant with the Winter Field Day Association, will be held at the Welsh Mountain Community Center and Park, 564 Sandmine Road, New Holland. The group of amateur radio enthusiasts, known as hams, will begin to set up antennas at 8 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 25, and activities will officially begin at 11 a.m. Winter Field Day will end at 4:59 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 26. The event is held for more than 24 hours to include radio operators from all time zones. Newly licensed and inexperienced operators as well as those with an interest in the hobby are encouraged to attend. There is no cost to participate, food is provided, and visitors are welcome to drop in anytime and bring sleeping bags or cots if they plan to stay overnight in the center.

"There are hundreds of clubs and thousands of participants," shared Hess, who added that there are more than 50 licensed ham radio operators in the New Holland ZIP code and more than 1,500 in the county. Dating back to the 1930s, Winter Field Day is an annual event that brings together amateur radio afficionados to converse during the final full weekend in January. Winter Field Day gives hams a chance to hold field operations in remote locations and to contact others all over the world. The Winter Field Day Association advocates for ham radio operators to practice portable emergency communications during winter weather because the low temperatures, snow, and ice pose unique challenges to operations.

An Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES) presentation will be offered at 9 a.m. on Jan. 25 as part of the event. Hess noted that the organization practices emergency drills for the closed Three Mile Island and the functioning Peach Bottom nuclear power plants because ham radios continue to operate when cellphones cannot and in areas where cell services may be limited. In addition, several antennae building stations for different bands will be set up at the Winter Field Day.

According to Hess, GMRS (General Mobile Radio Service) has become a path to ham radio participation. "You don't have to take a license test to get a (GMRS) license," said Hess, who described GMRS as "a rapidly growing aspect of radio (communications)." "While it's not ham radio, a lot of GMRS users are making the jump to ham radio," he said, adding that GMRS licenses from the Federal Communications Commission are easily obtained via an online application. "Anyone in your house can legally use your license," Hess explained.

This year, the club plans to serve hoagies and cheesesteaks at the Winter Field Day. Hess described the family-oriented atmosphere at club events by telling a story of his now-10-year-old daughter. "Everybody in ham radio in Lancaster County knows my daughter, Avery, by her nickname, which is Mudball," he stated. Hess shared that Avery came by her nickname when she was only about 6 years old. "We were at a ham radio event, and she was playing in a mud puddle," recalled Hess. "It was all over her hands and her knee-high boots." A fellow club member said to Avery, "You look like a mudball." The name stuck. "From that day forward, everyone has called her Mudball," said Hess, noting that his daughter will probably stop in at Winter Field Day to see her RRR friends.

Hess believes the chance to converse internationally attracts many to the hobby. "We will be operating under our club call sign, so ... anybody can come up and operate," he said. "I can almost guarantee we will find someone outside the U.S. to talk to." Hess noted that many visitors react positively to hearing a voice from another country over the radio.

Readers who would like more information may visit http://www.w3rrr.org or email W3COB@arrl.net.