Ham radio operators have been providing communication and other help for the Ironton-Lawrence County Memorial Day Parade for 25 years.

“The parade was great,” Ken Massie, public information officer for the Southern Ohio Amateur Radio Association, said. “So were the ham radio operators who provided communications for the parade. No accidents and no sickness were reported. All went well. I had two requests on the ham bands to call law enforcement; both were to get vehicles moved from the parade route.”

Ham radio operators are assigned to certain divisions and remain with their specific division until the conclusion of the parade in order to provide needed communication.

“Sometimes a division commander needs to contact another division commander or other parade official,” Massie said. “There may be an accident or a person passing out from exhaustion or sickness. A fire truck or emergency vehicle may need to exit the parade for an emergency and the next alley or intersection should be cleared for its exit.”

Along with each parade division, ham radio operators were also on site at the EMA/911 and EMS locations and at critical locations along the parade route.

Ham-related parade photos can be seen on SOARA’s website at www.orgsites.com/oh/soaraares/_pgg1.php3.