[Nodxa] From the AMSAT News Service

[Tedd Mirgliotta (KB8NW)]

Grace Papay, K8LG Named 2024 WA6ITF Memorial Amateur Radio Newsline
Young Ham of the Year

Grace Papay, K8LG, of Holland, Michigan, has been selected as the 2024
Bill Pasternak WA6ITF Memorial Amateur Radio Newsline Young Ham of the
Year. Grace, 18, is the daughter of Doug Papay, K8DP, and Carrie Papay,
K8CLP.

Grace earned her Technician license in March 2021 and within a year
achieved her Extra Class license, passing the test in March 2022.

She is a recent honors graduate of Holland Christian High School in her
hometown, where she earned a varsity letter in the Unified Sports
program.

Grace credited her father and her grandfather, John Papay, K8YSE, a
well-known operator in the ham radio satellite community, for drawing
her into the hobby.

“I got involved in amateur radio satellites,” Grace recalls. “I got on
the air. And now it has turned into something from honoring my grand-
father to a hobby I’m on every day and I love.” With support from her
grandfather and father, she earned the DX Century Club certificate for
contacts exclusively using satellites.

Grace attended Youth on the Air camps in Cincinnati in 2022 and Ottawa
in 2023, where she says she was exposed to a variety of other amateur
radio activities including balloon launches, slow-scan television and
radio contesting.

She was part of the K3LR IOTA Dave Kalter Memorial Youth DX Adventure
in 2023 and was a team member for the J62K St. Lucia DX contest operation
in 2024. Grace is active on the HF bands and operates in the ARRL and
CQ DX SSB and CW contests, ARRL Sweepstakes and CQ WPX, as well as Youth
on the Air events.

For the past few years, Grace has been a regular presenter at the Youth
Forum at Dayton Hamvention. She delivered a presentation on youth in
contesting at the Contest University Forum at Dayton this year and
assisted at the YOTA and AMSAT booths.

She is an active member of the Holland Amateur Radio Club, Grand Rapids
Amateur Radio Association, West Chester Amateur Radio Association and
the American Radio Relay League.

Grace received the Radio Club of America’s Young Achievers Award in 2023.
She had an article on the “Next Generation of Contesters” published in
the National Contest Journal (Nov/Dec 2023). A story she co-wrote on
YOTA Camp 2022 appeared in the August 2022 edition of CQ magazine.

Grace will be attending Cedarville University in Cedarville, Ohio this
fall, where she will study electrical engineering. She says amateur
radio played a major role in her choice of a major.

The YHOTY award will be presented to Grace during a ceremony at the
Huntsville Hamfest on Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024 at the Von Braun Center
in Huntsville, Alabama. Amateur Radio Newsline and Yaesu USA are primary
sponsors of the award, along with Heil Sound Ltd. and Radiowavz Antenna
Company.

The Young Ham of the Year Award was inaugurated by William Pasternak,
WA6ITF, in 1986. Upon his passing in 2015, Bill’s name was added to
the award as a memorial to his commitment to recognizing the accomplish-
ments of young people to the Amateur Radio Service.

[ANS thanks Amateur Radio Newsline for the above information.]

-- 

Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW - E-mail addresses:
<kb8nw at hotmail.com>  and<kb8nw at arrl.net>
Editor of the Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin (OPDX - DXer's Tool of Excellence)
President of the "Northern Ohio DX Association" (NODXA)
DX Advisor for the "Northern Ohio Amateur Radio Society
Past ARRL Assistant Director of the Great Lakes Division (1996-2022)
Sysop of the "Basic Amateur Radio Frequency BBS" (BARF80.ORG)