Thousands attend first day of Hamvention despite near-record temps

XENIA — Around 30,000 people are expected to attend Hamvention, the world’s largest amateur radio gathering at Greene County Expo Center in Xenia.

It kicked off its first day Friday.

It was a rough start to the first day of the convention with some severe weather but luckily the skies cleared in time for its opening at 9 a.m.

General Chairman Rick Allnutt told News Center 7′s Mike Campbell that crews always keep an eye on the National Weather Service.

After the rain ended Friday morning it was replaced with summer-like high temperatures.

“Decent Weather, It looked pretty grim this morning but it has picked up,” Hamvention attendee Scott McDonald said.

McDonald’s was one of the thousands of amateur radio operators that don’t plan to let any kind of weather stop their fun or search for deals.

>> RELATED: Hamvention to kick off in Xenia starting today; Thousands expected to attend

“The things you don’t expect to find, great prices, interesting stories people have about them,” McDonald said.

This is the first Hamvention after COVID-19 canceled the last two gatherings.

“They’re so thankful we can put this on, it’s amazing hearing people’s comments,” Allnut said.

“I love it, I’m a people person, I’ve met a lot of people,” Mary Spatz of Xenia said.

This is Spatz’s first trip to Hamvention.

The convention runs through the weekend from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Saturday, and it will end early at 1 p.m. Sunday, according to the expo center’s website 

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