I just learned that the annual Fourth of July parade up at Startzville, on the south side of Canyon Lake, has been canceled for 2020 as a casualty to the coronavirus scare. While there may be some locals who decorate their vehicles and just happen to spontaneously cruise back and forth around the area, there will be no organize parade.
Just wanted to touch base to see if anybody was interested in helping out with the Universal City Veterans Day Parade in coming up on Saturday, November 2nd.
Hams & other volunteers are needed to work with the UCPD in moving the cones / barricades to block off traffic onto Pat Booker Road when the parade is about to begin.
Law enforcement handles the cross traffic and volunteers handle parking lot entrances and side streets.
We’ll meet up at 9am inside UCPD headquarters in the Universal City Hall on Universal City Boulevard, just off of Pat Booker. Note this is a 30.06 & 30.07 posted building. <hint>
Ironically enough, the police department will furnish free donuts, coffee and juice for the volunteers.
Traffic vests are recommended, but the Police will have some “one size fits some” orange vests. Our experience has been that you get hassled less while wearing a vest.
We’ll have some commercial HT radios available for the non-hams and will be serting up a temp repeater for those radios.
We get our assignments and move out onto Pat Booker Road and get ready to deploy the barricades a little after 10 when they tell us to.
The parade kicks off at 11 a.m. and we’re generally done by no later than 12:30.
Contact me direct at 210-771-7075 (send text msg) or via email at info@sanantoniohams.org
Lee Besing, N5NTG
The 2015 Veterans Day parade will be held in Universal City on this Saturday, November 7th. Ham radio operators are needed to assist the Universal City Police Department with crowd and traffic control (mostly just moving the pre positioned barricades into place when the police order Pat Booker Road to be shut down when the parade is about to start).
We’ll be using a 2 meter frequency, HT recommended, but there will also be some commercially licensed HT radios available for those who don’t have one, or are not a licensed ham yet. Reflective vests recommended. Might need rain gear, depending on the forecasts.
We’ll meet at the UCPD HQ, located in city hall on Universal City Blvd by 9am. Free donuts, coffee and juice will be provided. Briefing starts at 9am, with the volunteers moving to their assignments along Pat Booker Rd by 10am.
Parade route runs south on Pat Booker towards Randolph AFB, turning either left or right (varies each year) on Byrd.
Many of us gather afterwards at a Mexican restaurant for lunch (not free, sorry) located near Universal City Blvd, next to a motorcycle shop.
Coordination by Hill Country REACT Team, contact Lee Besing, N5NTG, at (210-771-7075) or info@sanantoniohams.org
UC Parade
Date: 01 November 2014 – Important, they moved the parade up one week this year due to multiple large events around the area on the following weekend.
Title: Universal City Veterans Day Parade
Location: Univeral City, Texas
Description: For more years than we can count, HIll Country REACT and radio operators around the region have provided support for this Patriotic Event.
Ham Radio Operators provide a valuable service during this event by assisting the Universal City Police Department in shutting down the parade route (Pat Booker Rd.) in preparation of the parade.
We meet at the U.C.P.D. in the morning for a briefing and assignments (City Hall is located on Universal City Blvd). After that we proceed to our assigned stations and await the call to setup our barricades.
FREE DONUTS, COFFEE, ORANGE JUICE, and maybe even some milk, courtesy of UCPD.
During the parade, we try to make sure no vehicles enter the route that could disrupt the parade. Afterwards, we meet for lunch at a nearby Mexican Restaurant on Pat Booker Road and visit for a bit.
All licensed radio operators are invited to participate.
For more information of to be added to the roster of volunteers for this event, contact Lee Besing – N5NTG – Event IC
Start Time: 08:30
Date: 2014-11-01
End Time: 12:00
N5NTG | 
AERC Heart of the Hills, Bandera 100k, BikeMS San Antonio, Emergency Go-Kit, General Ham Radio, Ham Club, JOTA, Parades, Public Service, San Antonio Marathon, Skywarn, Swap Meets, Texas QSO Party, Tour de Gruene | 
09 17th, 2013| 
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I know more help is really needed for the two upcoming bike rides on September 21st and October 12-13th. I’m pretty sure that all of the other events will be grateful for some extra ham help as well.
Where available, I have listed email address links for the contact person. If you don’t see a contact link, or are unsuccessful in contacting them, please feel free to contact me direct for more info or help. – Lee N5NTG
Once again, the members of Hill Country REACT, along with support from other area ham radio operators, has successfully organized the Canyon Lake 4th of July Parade in Startzville, Texas. This annual parade is sponsored by the Canyon Lake VFW Post 8800 (Startzville). This year, there were about 40 entries, some small and some not so small. The parade route stretches from the west end of Startzville to the eastern side of town near the VFW post location. It starts on Old Cranes Mill Road and runs for about a mile or so until it reaches the de-staging area.
The following volunteers helped put on this year’s parade…
Hey Guys,
Its that time again…time for the 4th of July Parade in Startzville (Canyon Lake). Hill County REACT has provided staging and communications for this event each year and would like to invite you to help us out. It is a good experience in event communications and it is a whole lot of fun!
This event will be on the morning of the Thursday the 4th at 8AM and last until about 12 pm. Just a short event. We’ll provide talk-in on the REACT 444.450 repeater (located near Canyon Lake) and run on a simplex 2 meter frequency for the actual event (contact Lee below to get frequency before parade).
We will be meeting at Startz Cafe:
0630 – Breakfast at for those who can attend) 0800 – All volunteers meet for assignments
Startz Cafe is located at: 10350 Startz Rd Canyon Lake, TX 78133 Canyon Lake, Texas 78133
Please let me know if you can help.
Wade (W5ERX)
—————————————–
Note from Lee N5NTG
If you aren’t doing anything for the morning of July 4th, why not come up to Startzville (south of Canyon Lake) and meet the group of ham operators from Hill Country REACT who are coordinating the parade that day. We’re meeting at 6:30am at Startz Cafe and rolling out to the staging area around 8am. Parade kicks off at 11am after the fly over by the Confederate Air Force (or whatever their new politically correct name is now.)
Once the parade starts off, I’ll be bringing up the rear of the parade in my mini-van, and all the hams along the staging area will get in their vehicles and jump in line in front of me. We bring up the rear of the parade, helping to block the road from behind, preventing the frustrated tourists and residents who forgot about the parade and got trapped at the end of the road leading up to Comal Park. We can pair up any non-hams with a ham or you can just hang out and watch the parade.
If you’ve got family, bring them along and enjoy. It’s a good small town parade without all the stuck up noses of a big town parade. The residents line up along the 2 mile route cheering it on and they really appreciate our help.
Lee Besing, N5NTG
210-771-7075 (cell)
info@sanantoniohams.org
We are fortunate that the Ham Radio community has members willing to help with multiple other non-profit or public service type events through out the year.
Here is a (not so) short list of the major 2013 events that hams from the San Antonio metro area can usually be found helping with. Contact links for future events are included, but contacts for past events aren’t included since it’s too late for this year. If you know of an event that ought to be on this list, please contact the webmaster by email.
For more info about the above list of public service events, or to volunteer for an event, please click on the CONTACT link for the specific event, or contact info@sanantoniohams.org.
We’ll work on getting all of these events, plus any others as they get listed, into the calendar on this website. In the meantime, if you want to voluteer, don’t be bashful! It’s lots of fun, and a different way to make new ham radio friends! If you know of an event that wasn’t listed here, but should be, please contact us to get it added into the calendar.
Saturday was the 43rd Annual Veterans Day Parade in Universal City Texas, and the ham radio operators from Hill Country REACT and other volunteers were there to help the UC Police Department manage the parade route. Our “job” was to move the barricades or police crime scene tape into place, blocking selected major streets, side streets, and parking lot exits. Our “job” was NOT to direct traffic, but to call in by radio whenever we had a “runner” that bypassed the barricades once they were in place.
This year, we had aerial maps of the route, to help the ham operators assist any drivers who didn’t know the back roads / alternate routes. It’s amazing how many local residents ignore the big banners crossing Pat Booker Road for a month before the parade, or the posters placed at local businesses, and then get upset because they forgot to allow time to leave early before the parade, or to figure out an alternate way of getting from point A to point B during the parade.
This year we had about 2 dozen volunteers, mostly ham radio operators, including 7 motorcycle marshals, to assist the UCPD. I’ll get a full listing posted here later, but it’s already 1:40am in the middle of the night, and I still need to be up at 5am to go help out with the Tour de Gruene at my assigned location on River Road, just south of Sattler, Texas.
Here is a 28 minute video posted to YouTube.com by your’s truly, that I took during the start of the parade as the entries left the staging area onto the main route. The route went down Pat Booker Road, from UC Blvd, almost all the way to Randolph AFB and FM78. A map of the route is shown at the start of the video. Enjoy!
N5NTG | BikeMS San Antonio, General Ham Radio, Misc Triathlons, Parades, Public Service, San Antonio Marathon, Tour de Gruene | 08 20th, 2012| No Comments »We’ve got a series of public service events happening in the next few months, surely one of them will tickle your fancy? Hams are needed for all of these events.
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