Antique radio fest features 'Save a Radio Day'  

[JULY 27, 2006]  LA GRANGE PARK -- The Antique Radio Club of Illinois announces its annual Radiofest celebration, scheduled for Aug. 3-5 at the Bolingbrook Holiday Inn. Radiofest is one of the largest gatherings of radio collectors in the United States, bringing together hundreds of radio and radio ephemera collectors from around the world. The event offers visitors, collectors and spectators an open-air radio swap meet, radio equipment contests, a giant auction and special presentations. Admission is free.

The Antique Radio Club of Illinois is again encouraging the public to bring in old radios for a free evaluation and appraisal. For the sixth consecutive year, the club is sponsoring "Save a Radio Day," where the public can have old radios and related items found in their attics and basements evaluated by longtime radio collectors. More than 350 old radios have been brought in over the past few years. If the owner decides to sell the item, it can be sold at auction on Aug. 5. The "electronic appraisal" will be open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Aug. 4 and from 9 a.m. to noon on Aug. 5.

The event features two popular auctions where antique radios of all kinds can be bought by raising a bid card. The main auction starts at 10 a.m. on Aug. 5, after viewing and registration from 8:30 to 10. A donation auction of items sold for the benefit of the Antique Radio Club of Illinois will begin shortly after the main auction.

If you are looking for that radio you had as a child, a decoration for your home or an old radio to listen to in your home or office, you can find it at the event. Although radios are the main theme, you can usually find televisions, old Victrola wind-up phonographs, telephones and many other unique items from the past. So, the public is invited to join in a celebration of the "good old days."

The club will also have a full schedule of programs designed to enlighten and educate. Topics are:

• "Installation of the Marconi Radio Room at the New Titanic Museum"
• "Powell Crosley Jr.: His Transmitters, Receivers, Products and WLW"
• "Restoration Techniques: Zenith Transoceanics"
• "Zenith Radio Company"
• "Participating in DX Contexts with Vintage Equipment"

This year's old equipment contest will feature "theme radios" in a variety of categories, including commemorative, character, transportation, military and even hidden radios.

This year the club is also featuring a working ham radio station, AR9CI, which will be in operation Aug. 4 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Aug. 5 from 8 a.m. until noon.

All Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts who attend in uniform will be given free admittance to all activities except the banquet. Boy Scouts who desire merit badge certification in radio or collecting can earn merit badge requirements.

The fun-filled family event will begin Aug. 3 with an evening poolside reception. The open-air swap meet and other events will begin at 7 a.m. Aug. 4.

The Crown Vics (see publicity) will be performing at the annual Carolyn Knipfel Awards Banquet on Aug. 4. Tickets to the evening banquet are $19.50 each and are available until 2 p.m. that day. [To download Adobe Acrobat Reader for the PDF file, click here.]

For a full schedule of Radiofest activities, see the brochure or check the club's website.

Whether you're searching for the memories of an old radio in grandpa's living room or just remembering the sounds of The Shadow, Jack Benny or the Andrews Sisters, there is something for everyone at this show. It's the "radio show of the year," a not-to-be-missed opportunity for anyone who has an old radio or is interested in becoming a collector.

The club will provide free refreshments throughout the show.

The Bolingbrook Holiday Inn is located at 205 Remington Blvd. in Bolingbrook.

For more information about Radiofest, call Art Bilski, public relations director, at [phone], or visit http://www.antique-radios.org.

[News release from the Antique Radio Club of Illinois]