W8USR - Special Events

The Avenue of Lights Special Event

The Quincy Tradition: K9C

The Avenue of Lights Special Event took place in Quincy, Illinois, hosted by the Western Illinois Amateur Radio Club (WIARC). The FCC issued Special Event callsign for the event was K9C.

The "Avenue of Lights" was a prominent, highly anticipated winter festival held annually in Quincy, Illinois. To celebrate the community tradition, the Western Illinois Amateur Radio Club (WIARC) organized an annual Amateur Radio Special Event Station. Operating during the first or second week of December, local amateur radio operators set up stations to broadcast live from the region, bringing global attention to the community's seasonal festivities.

This December 10, 2005 operation marked the 7th Annual iteration of the ham radio special event, meaning the tradition originally began in 1999. The display was constructed winding through Moorman Wavering Park in Quincy. It featured a massive, two-mile loop of animated and synchronized light displays that families would drive through between Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve. The special event station acts as a global promotional vehicle for Quincy's premier physical holiday attraction. Though it originally ran under the "Avenue of Lights" moniker, the local holiday tradition has evolved and continues to delight visitors today as the Quincy Festival of Lights.

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