Alan Martin, W1AHM writes on PART-L:
Halloween and PART Pumpkin Patrol
Wednesday, October 31st, 2012
As we have done for many years, PART will once again conduct Pumpkin Patrol in Westford on Halloween. Many of you are veterans and others may be volunteering for the first time… whichever you are… thank you in advance for your help!
Pumpkin Patrol is Amateur Radio volunteers providing additional eyes and ears to the Town of Westford during Trick or Treating. Our purpose is to observe and report any potential safety concerns back to the PART Pumpkin Patrol Net Control Station located at the Westford Police station. Reports from our patrollers are handed off to the Westford PD dispatcher and addressed by the Town’s public safety services. Our role is ONLY to report what we see and provide input to our Town’s public safety departments.
We like to have at least 6 mobile radio operators to patrol all the neighborhoods in the town, plus one net control operator at the police station. We can still use at least three more volunteers, including the distinguished role of Net Control.
Maps and a checklist of locations to watch will be provided when you check-in for your assignment. Check-in occurs at the Westford Police station where we record your call sign, vehicle and cell phone information. You do NOT need to be a resident of the Town of Westford to volunteer; by the time we’re done, you’ll have a real feel for the town’s geography!
The town specifies that Trick-or-Treating run from 6 PM until 8 PM. We normally run the operation from 5:30 PM until 10:00 – 11:00 PM. If the weather is lousy or the streets are quiet, the net closure time will be adjusted accordingly. We try and accommodate every individual’s schedule, we have run with 2 shifts in the past… an early and a late shift. We will accept your offer to assist at any time throughout the course of the evening. If there is interest, we will unwind at the British Beer Company after the event.
We plan to use the WB1GOF 2 meter repeater, 146.955MHz (P/L 74.4), for the entire event. So all a volunteer will need is a 2m radio. If you want to ride shotgun with another ham, that can be accommodated as well.
Feel free to drop me a note with any questions and/or if you would like to volunteer. Pass this along to others who may be interested.