SBARC Special Event Station - K5S

The club will be operating Special Event Station K5S on May 7-8, 2010 to promote Smokey Bear Days in Capitan, New Mexico and to commemorate the 65th birthday of Smokey Bear.

Brief History of Smokey Bear

Smokey Bear became the symbol for publicizing forest fire prevention in the U.S. when artist Albert Staehle painted the first poster featuring Smokey in 1944 at the request of the U.S. Forest Service and its Cooperative Forest Fire Prevention Program. The poster showed a bear pouring a bucket of water on a campfire. Smokey Bear soon became very popular and his image began appearing on fire prevention public service advertisements and educational materials.

The origin of the real-life Smokey Bear began when fire fighters rescued a lone bear cub from a forest fire in the Capitan Mountains of New Mexico in 1950. Found clinging to a charred tree, his paws and hind legs were badly burned but he was treated and recovered from his injuries. The little bear's story became a subject of great national interest. Subsequently adopted by the U.S. Forest Service, he became the well known living symbol of Smokey Bear publicizing fire prevention and forest conservation. Smokey found a home at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. where he lived until his death in 1976. He was then returned to Capitan, New Mexico, where he is buried in the Smokey Bear Historical Park.

But Smokey's message lives on to this day. As Smokey says, "Only YOU can prevent wildfires."

K5S Operation

K5S will be on the air Friday and Saturday, May 7-8, 2010. Activity may also be heard anytime between May 5 and May 12. The frequencies for K5S operation are listed in the following table:

QSL Information

To confirm your contact with K5S and receive a special Smokey Bear commemorative QSL card please mail a self addressed stamped envelope to:

K5S/KR5NM
PO Box 773
Ruidoso, NM 88355
USA