Nice to hear from you, Ed - The Fest with the power outage (and Amanda Dawn Christie as banquet speaker) was 2018; the 2020 Fest was on the cusp of the CoVID-19 pandemic.
Your characterization of the area around Plymouth Meeting as mixed residential / commercial is spot on; as one makes the trek out Germantown Pike from Philly -- which is very old thoroughfare in the region -- the area became more commercial / office oriented with the completion of I-476 (the "Blue Route" to locals) and its connection to the east-west Turnpike along with the Northeast Extension. However some old standbys remain: Fat Daddy's, at Germantown Pike and Plymouth Road, remains once of the area's best hoagie and cheesesteak shops. The transition away from classic shopping malls to big box and online shopping hurt Plymouth Meeting, particularly since the huge King Of Prussia mall is fewer than 10 miles away. The "Fest Flu" that many folks complained of during our time there is probably the most concerning aspect of the facility; I don't recall folks who commuted to the event (or were from the Philly area but stayed there) often reporting the Fest Flu. Shifting the event to late April / early May was an attempt to move the event away from wintry weather (as we are about to experience here...again...). Our new home, the Holiday Inn & Suites Fort Washington, isn't as large a facility, and we haven't held a banquet there the past two years. It would have to be remotely catered, as the hotel took its banquet wing, demolished it, and sold it to an Audi dealer. But this hotel has been a welcoming venue to us, is very convenient to Philadelphia highways, and is a short walk from a SEPTA regional rail station. I hope to have the website updated, with registration set up and operational, by the end of the weekend or on Monday (unless I'm outside wrangling the snow blower). RC On Sat, Feb 21, 2026 at 8:11 AM Ed Muro <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Regarding: Former DoubleTree Suites in Plymouth Meeting to be converted into > 213 apartments > > I guess it is a sign of the times. The area surrounding the hotel seems to be > more of a mixed use commercial /residential area than a tourist destination. > At the time of moving from Kulsville the facility was certainly an urgrade to > the old Holiday Inn / Best Western. Hoeever, by today's standards the place > is probably in need of major infrastructure renovations. > I am trying to remember was the year of the power outage the same year COVID > broke out, or was that the next year? > > I would alwyas come home sick and dubbed it "The Fest Flu," the year of the > ice storm, prior to the power going out, heat was an issue and I felt cond > air coming through the HVAC vents... maintenance came up to look at it and > took the panel off the HVAC component and there was black mold inside the > unit.....enough said. > > Anyway, it holds some good memories and I always looked forward to the late > winter get-away to see familar faces and play radio. By that time of the year > I was always itching to do something. With Montgomery County law enforcement > now being digitally encrypted, I would probably be focusing on other areas of > the radio hobby than scanning. I am currently playing with Meshtastic devices > and off grid networks. > > I hope to make another trip to the fest in the future, but the grand-kids > keep me busy, not to mention snagging as much overtime as I can get,,,,I got > my eyes on the exit ramp and will have no problem keeping busy in retirement. > > 73, > Ed Muro - K2EPM > Scanner Scum Alumni Association > > _______________________________________________ > Swlfest mailing list > [email protected] > http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/swlfest > > To unsubscribe: Send an E-mail to > [email protected]?subject=unsubscribe, or visit the URL shown > above. > > For more information on the Fest, visit: > > http://www.swlfest.com > http://swlfest.blogspot.com _______________________________________________ Swlfest mailing list [email protected] http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/swlfest To unsubscribe: Send an E-mail to [email protected]?subject=unsubscribe, or visit the URL shown above. For more information on the Fest, visit: http://www.swlfest.com http://swlfest.blogspot.com
