Subj : Newsline Part 4
To : ALL
From : Daryl Stout
Date : Thu Jun 09 2016 07:36 pm
REMEMBRANCES OF BILL PASTERNAK, SK, June 11, 2015
PAUL/ANCHOR: In the final segment of this expanded news report, we take
time to remember Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF. To many, he was a friend, a
mentor, a fellow ham, a brother, and a founding father of Amateur Radio
Newsline, and its Young Ham of the Year Award. He is a Silent Key, whose
influence on the amateur world will never be silenced. We hear from
Amateur Radio Newsline's Don Wilbanks, AE5DW, and others who were lucky
enough to share his world - as we mark one year since his passing.
Here's Don:
DON: Milestone. A noun. A stone functioning as a milepost. A significant
event or stage in the life, progress, development, or the like of a
person, nation, etc.
We're marking a milestone.
On Saturday, June 11, 2016, we mark the first anniversary of the passing
of Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF. This is significant, because it was Bill, who
brought us all together. Nearly 40 years ago, he was one of the creators
of the Westlink Report. That morphed into Amateur Radio Newsline. Amateur
Radio Newsline created the Young Ham Of The Year award. But, Bill was so
much more than Westlink, Newsline and the YHOTY.
I could go on and on about Bill, and the impact he had on my life, but I
only knew him for a couple of decades. Let's go farther back, and hear
from some folks who knew him way before then.
In 1986, Bill had the idea to honor young radio amateurs, the Young Ham
Of The Year award, now named after Bill. He got on the phone and called
up a few people to see if they were interested in helping sponsor the
award. One of these was CQ Publications. Rich Moseson, W2VU, is the editor
of CQ Magazine:
"I can't remember a single specific highlight of my relationship with
Bill, which went on over 30 years.
What stands out to me the most are 2 things. One is how he's a perfect
example of how ham radio can enable you to shine in ways that other parts
of your life may not. Professionally, yes he worked in television in
Hollywood, but he was a videotape editor and maintenance person. He kept
their equipment running. It's not a high profile position. But ham radio
allowed him to shine as the producer of Newsline, as producer of videos
and as the founder of the Young Ham Of The Year award. He passed that
along to other people as well. He gave me my first opportunity to do
television field producing, to Meet Senator John Glenn, and I don't
remember what else.
The other thing that stands out in my mind is with the Young Ham Of The
Year award how his total devotion was to the kids. Every year, he would
sponsor the dinner, and he would give the kid the who won the award the
option of where to go. I suppose we could have gone to some fancy
restaurant someplace, but we usually ended up at either a bar b q place
or, I remember one year we all went to 5 Guys and got hamburgers and
fries, because that's what the kid wanted. That said so much to me about
Bill, and his dedication to promoting youth in ham radio, and just his
whole way of life and of being.
Those are things that I'll always remember about him."
Thanks Rich. Rich shared the stage with Bill, and the young ham award
winner for many years. Another sponsor from day one is Yaesu. Now with
Ham Radio Outlet, Chip Margelli, K7JA, then with Yaesu, also shared that
stage for decades:
"This is Chip Margelli, K7JA, and my remembrences of Bill Pasternak are
that he was every day, every minute of every day, trying to promote
amateur radio.
Trying to bring amateur radio to young people, trying to bring amateur
radio to people who didn't know the difference between a megacycle and
a motorcycle, and he was tireless in his efforts.
He also was tireless in his efforts to improve the knowledge base. All
these videos that Bill, and Dave Bell, and others, were so deeply involved
in, weren't just to try to recruit new hams. They were trying to improve
the knowledge base, amond existing hams, and that's the thing I remember
the most about Bill.
He was always trying to make new hams out of no hams, and to make better
hams out of current hams, and to his last day he was going after that goal
of bringing more people the joy of amateur radio."
Thanks Chip. Have you noticed a trend here? Education. Youth. That's not
by accident. A more recent addition to the Newsline fold is Mark
Abramowicz, NT3V:
"How does one reflect on the loss of a good friend, and fellow ham? A man
whose life was devoted to family and Amateur Radio.
That's right, family was always first for Bill Pasternak. And, I guess I
became part of that extended family after my son, Josh, then KB3GWY, was
selected to become the Young Ham of the Year by Amateur Radio Newsline.
I listened to Newsline and it's predecessor, the Westlink Report carried
on a local repeater for years here in my area of eastern Pennsylvania.
Little did I realize I would one day become a contributor.
But, it went beyond that, as Bill asked me to shepherd the Young Ham of
the Year Award after its long-time leader bowed out.
As I said, ham radio aside, Bill Pasternak was always the guy who put
family first - his family and my family. His emails and phone calls at
all hours of the day and night - weekends, too, were always welcome.
And, they always began with - How's the family? Yes, there was business
to transact, but it was genuine concern for family that was first.
To tell the truth, I have missed those calls. And, I've come to miss a
man who was like a second father, an uncle, and a very, very dear friend.
He may be gone, but his legacy will live on, not just in Newsline, and its
work, serving the amateur community - but in my heart, and the hearts of
many he touched with his genuine love of his family - all of us."
Thanks Mark.
This just scratches the surface of the kind of man, the kind of ham, that
was Bill Pasternak. He was the kind of guy that you didn't have the heart
to say no to. That's how he brought in the dozens of broadcast
professionals into the all-volunteer team that made up, and continues to
make up Amateur Radio Newsline and the Young Ham Of The Year award.
So, as we mark this milestone on the path of life we pause to reflect,
remember, and honor the man who brought us all together. The Newsline
staff, those in the Young Ham Of The Year committee. The 30 years of young
hams who have been honored, their families and you, the listeners and
supporters of Amateur Radio Newsline. Without Bill, and without you, and
all the others over the nearly 4 decades, none of this would matter.
So thank you Bill. Thank you for everything. We are all better people just
for knowing you.
I'm Don Wilbanks, AE5DW.
**
NEWSCAST CLOSE: With thanks to Alan Labs; the ARRL; Boston Amateur Radio
Club; the CBC; CQ Magazine; Facebook; Hap Holly and the Rain Report; the
IARU; Irish Radio Transmitter Society; K2BSA Amateur Radio Association;
MyEasternShoreMaryland; Southgate Amateur Radio News; Ted Randall's QSO
Radio Show; WANE-TV; WBKO-TV; Wireless Institute of Australia; WTWW
Shortwave; and you our listeners, that's all from the Amateur Radio
Newsline. Please send emails to our address at
[email protected].
More information is available at Amateur Radio Newsline's only official
website located at www.arnewsline.org.
And, we remind you once again of the June 30 deadline to nominate
candidates for the Bill Pasternak Young Ham of the Year Award. Please
visit our website at arnewsline.org, and click on the tab that says
"Y-H-O-T-Y" for information and an application. Remember to mail your
applications to the New York address printed on the application.
For now, with Caryn Eve Murray, KD2GUT, at the news desk in New York,
and our news team worldwide, I'm Paul Braun, WD9GCO, in Valparaiso,
Indiana saying 73, and as always, we thank you for listening.
Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2016. All rights reserved.
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