From The Mosinee Times, February 22, 2001
Bob Baird has Seen it All

Bob Baird of Plover holds a plaque commemorating his 80 years as a Ham Radio operator. It was presented to him at a special luncheon at the Stage Stop last Saturday where he also observed his 95th birthday.

In 1921, three years after the end of World War I, Bob Baird was licensed as an Amateur Radio operator. It's 2001, and he's still an active Ham. Baird lives in Plover, Wisconsin. Last Saturday he celebrated his 95^th birthday and 80 years as a Ham at the Stage Stop Restaurant in Mosinee, joined not only by friends from Stevens Point, Wausau, and Mosinee areas, but from as far away as Alaska.

He grew up in Dayton, Ohio, where as a fifteen year old, he and a neighbor built their first transmitters out of doorbell buzzers. He organized several of his High School friends into pooling their resources to build a spark gap transmitter out of a 40,000 volt transformer. According to Baird, this transmitter was so powerful it threw six foot sparks from its antenna, and emitted an eerie green glow at night that scared his neighbors on several occasions. This transmitter was so noisy, he had to partially bury it in the back yard in order to operate it.

Among his other talents, Baird is a storyteller. One tale he related on Saturday involved his youth when most of Dayton was wired for DC power only. Baird's new high powered radio transmitter required AC. The only such source available to him was the church next door to the Baird house. The church had obtained an exemption from the city and had been wired for AC to power its new organ. He was able to tap into the church's power and bury a cable back to his house. Since this was during Prohibition, Baird was able to exchange his knowledge of a source of bootlegged gin for the janitor's silence. All worked well as long as he remembered not to operate on Sunday mornings while the organ was in use. One Sunday he forgot. Three weeks later his father was visited by three irate representatives of the organ manufacturer. They had been called by the church to explain why the organ failed during services, and subsequently found the buried cable. In Baird's words, "That was the end of my operating for a while."

He told how he still remembers when he was four years old, from the shoulders of his father, he was shown a saw a strange glow in the sky for several nights in a row. He would later learn that what he saw was the 1910 appearance of Halley's Comet.

In 1927 he moved to Chicago where he eventually went to work for WGN Radio as an engineer, a post he would hold until he retired in 1971. While at WGN, he met and befriended many celebrities, photos of which cover an entire wall of his garage.

In 1947, Baird helped create the Quarter Century Wireless Association. A national organization of Amateur Radio operators who were licensed for 25 years. At Saturday's celebration Baird was given a special commemorative plaque from the QCWA. He was also presented with a Special Recognition Award from the American Radio Relay League, The world's largest Amateur Radio organization.

For several years after retiring, Baird maintained a winter home in Cocoa Beach, Florida, from where he was able to witness several historic space launches, including the Challenger disaster in 1986.

In 1971 he moved to Plover where he still lives. He is an active member of several local radio clubs.

Ellen Rock of WAOW-TV Channel 9 interviewed Baird on the day of the anniversary luncheon.

ARRL Assistant Division Director Gene Santoski K9UTQ presents Bob Baird with a congratulatory letter from Central Division Director Dick Isley W9GIG.	Wayne Johnson K9MIF, President of the local QCWA Chapter presents W9NN with the QCWA plaque.
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