Shelby Hamfest finds new home for next 5 years

The Gaston Gazette's Daniel Jackson reports that the Shelby Hamfest has found a new home for the next five years.. and possibly even longer.

Ham radio event that draws thousands each year commits to five years in Dallas

Shelby Hamfest is holding onto its name, but for at least five years the amateur radio event will take place 25 miles east in Dallas.

The Shelby Amateur Radio Club had already booked Gaston County Park off of U.S. 321 for the event this Aug. 30-31. Then on Tuesday, the club approved a commitment with Gaston County to hold the Hamfest there for five years.

And Hamfest organizer Robbie Hamrick said Gaston County could become a permanent home for the event.

"The club met at the park to look at it again," Hamrick said. "We will be there at least five years and probably longer. Everybody loves it. It's a beautiful place that has room for us to grow."

The annual event has drawn as many as 20,000 people to
Cleveland County in a single weekend. Attendance has dropped some in recent years and rising gas prices could deter some again this year, but Gaston County Travel and Tourism Director Walt Israel said he is hoping for 15,000.

Gaston County is planning to put in 80 new RV campsites at the park at a cost of roughly $40,000, Israel said.

Those campsites are needed anyway because of horse shows held at the Dallas park.

"What it will cost them for five years in Gaston County is less than one year in Cleveland County," Israel said.

Johnny Click, a Dallas resident and Ham radio operator instrumental in bringing the event to Dallas, said Hamfest has injected more than $2 million into Shelby's economy.

As soon as he discovered that the Shelby Amateur Radio Club was having trouble renegotiating its contract with the Cleveland County Fairgrounds, Click said he started sending out e-mails.

"The first thing I thought was that park up there in Dallas would be an ideal place for Hamfest," Click said. "I never thought the powers that be in Cleveland County would make it so difficult to have such a big event that draws so many people into the area."

Hamrick said the cost of holding the event at the Cleveland fairgrounds had gone up and yet their access to the facilities there was becoming more and more restricted.

On Wednesday, Cleveland County Commissioner Eddie Holbrook said personal agendas got in the way of sitting down to negotiate a plan to keep Hamfest in Cleveland County.

"We're working extremely hard to bring things into this county...," Holbrook said. "I don't like to lose and I certainly don't like to lose going down in this manner. It's an upsetting piece of news."

Read the full Gaston Gazette article