AR Newsline Names 2006 Young Ham of the Year   

CATHERINE E. FERRY, NC8F, NAMED RECIPIENT OF THE 2006 AMATEUR RADIO NEWSLINE™ "YOUNG HAM OF THE YEAR" AWARD

(Los Angeles, CA) -- For the third consecutive year, a young woman is the winner of the Amateur Radio Newsline "Young Ham of the Year Award" (YHOTY). Catherine E. Ferry (NC8F) -- an 18-year-old from Silver Lake, Ohio, has been named the 2006 "Young Ham of the Year," according to ham radio operators and Award Administrator Bill Pasternak, (WA6ITF) and Award Committee Chairman Mark Abramowicz (NT3V).

Catherine was selected based on her long term commitment to Amateur Radio, her work in public service and in promoting the hobby/service to others. The daughter of Bruce Ferry, AK8B and the late Joan Ferry, Catherine was first licensed in 1998 at age 10 and received her Extra class license at 13. She is currently an Assistant Emergency Coordinator for Administration in charge of taking the minutes and maintaining copies of important Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) documents.

In the area of providing communications, since age 12 she has been involved in numerous public service events, and for the past two years, has served as a Net Control station for the "Roadrunner Akron Marathon." Catherine has also held several positions in various clubs and organizations. She is the Secretary of the Summit County Red Cross Amateur Radio Club and for the past two years she has served as the Editor of the Cuyahoga Falls Amateur Radio Club newsletter. As a result of her efforts, in 2004 that publication received an "Honorable Mention" in the "ARRL Ohio Section Newsletter Contest." She has also been the "Ticket Coordinator" in charge of ticket sales for the club's annual hamfest, and assists in teaching the club's Technician Class licensing course. Catherine has also promoted Amateur Radio at Cuyahoga Falls High School while maintaining a 3.5 GPA.

In addition to Amateur Radio, Catherine is an accomplished musician who has played bassoon with the Mansfield Symphony Youth Orchestra, the Kent Chorus and currently with the Cleveland Youth Wind Symphony. With the latter, she recently performed a series of concerts in Australia. This fall, Catherine is planning to attend Baldwin Wallace College in Berea, Ohio, majoring in music.

The 2006 Amateur Radio Newsline™ "Young Ham of the Year Award" will be presented on Saturday, August 19th, 2006 at the Huntsville Hamfest in Huntsville, Alabama. As the 2006 "Young Ham of the Year," Catherine will receive -- courtesy of Vertex-Standard -- an expense-paid trip to the Huntsville Hamfest, along with a gift of Yaesu brand ham radio equipment. CQ magazine will treat her to an expense-paid week at Spacecamp Huntsville, and will present her with a variety of CQ products. Amateur Radio Newsline™ will provide Catherine with a commemorative plaque at the award ceremony. Once again, the cost of year's plaque has been underwritten by Dave Bell (W6AQ), President of DBA Entertainment Inc., Hollywood California.

The presentation of the award as a regular feature of the Huntsville Hamfest has been made possible through the generosity and kindness of the event's Planning Committee and its Chairman, Walter "Scotty" Neustadter (W4WW). This year's award ceremony will be co-hosted by Don Wilbanks (AE5DW) of Amateur Radio Newsline™ along with representatives of corporate underwriters Vertex-Standard and CQ Communications, Inc.

Award Program Background

The Amateur Radio Newsline™ "Young Ham of the Year" award program, (formerly the Westlink Report Young Ham of the Year Award ) is now entering its 21st consecutive year. It is presented annually to a licensed radio amateur (Ham) who is 18 years of age or younger and who has provided outstanding service to the nation, his/her community or the betterment of the state of the art in communications through the Amateur Radio hobby/service.

Award Sponsors

The award program is jointly sponsored by the Los Angeles, California-based Amateur Radio Newsline™ with corporate support from Vertex-Standard Corporation of Cerritos, California and CQ Magazine of Hicksville, NY.

Since 1976, Amateur Radio Newsline™ and its predecessor, the Westlink Radio Network, have been providing radio amateurs around the world with up-to-the-minute news at no cost to them. Amateur Radio Newsline™ also sponsors the "Roy Neal, K6DUE, Amateur Radio Mentoring Project" that serves as a clearinghouse to match radio amateurs in need of educational assistance on the hobby with those able to aid them.

The awards two corporate underwriters are world leaders in their respective areas of Amateur Radio product support.

Vertex-Standard Corporation is considered the trailblazer in the design, manufacture and distribution of high quality Vertex-Standard commercial two-way radio, monitoring and air-band communications equipment along with its Standard Horizon marine electronics line and Yaesu brand Amateur Radio equipment. The Yaesu name is known world-wide among ham radio aficionados and is synonymous with premium quality ham radio gear.

CQ Magazine and its sister publications, CQ VHF and Popular Communications, are published by CQ Communications, Inc., and are considered the trend-setting publications serving today’s modern radio amateur.

Past Recipients

Past recipients of the "ARNewslineYoung Ham of the Year Award" include:
Shawn Alan Wakefield, WK5P, of Bartlesville, OK (1986);
David Rosenman, KA9PMK, of Muncie, IN (1987);
Jonathan Binstock, NK3D, of Potomac, MD (1988);
Erin McGinnis, KAOWTE, of Topeka, KS (1989);
Mary Alestra, KB2IGG, of Staten Island, NY (1990);
Richard S. "Sammy" Garrett, AAOCR, of St. Louis, MO (1991);
Angela (Angie) Fischer, KBOHXY, also of St. Louis (1992);
Kevin Boudreaux, N5XMH, of New Orleans, LA (1993);
Allison Daneen Zettwoch, KD4CKP, of Louisville KY (1994);
Adam Weyhaupt, N9MEZ, of Alton IL (1995);
Toby Metz, KB7UIM, of Boise ID (1996);
Brian Mileshosky, N5ZGT, of Albuquerque NM (1997);
Richard Paczkowski, Jr., KF4BIA, of Edgewater, FL (1998);
Michelle Swann, KE4EZI, of Warner-Robins, GA (1999);
Christopher Arthur, KT4XA, of Russelville, AL (2000);
Patrick Clark, KC8BFD, of Elkwood, WV (2001);
Josh Abramowicz, KB3GWY, of Reading, PA (2002);
Jay Thompson, W6JAY, of Santa Ana, CA (2003);
Andrea Hartlage, KB4IUM, of Grayson, GA (2004),
Rebekah Dorff, WG4Y, of Hoover, AL (2005).