On December 18, 1998, members of the Olde Goats and the Asheville Chapter of the QCWA honored Bill at a local restaurant on the occasion of his 91st birthday! John Travis, W4QCF, surprised Bill and Jo with his own version of "This Is Your Life," prepared with the help of Bill Jr., W4ABM.

LET ME START WITH YOU, WILLIAM LELAND HAYES, BECAUSE THIS IS YOUR 91st BIRTHDAY. BUT WE KNOW THAT JO IS CLOSE BEHIND AND WILL BE 90 IN TWO WEEKS!

SO CONGRATULATIONS TO BOTH OF YOU. ALL OF YOUR FAMILY WANTED TO BE HERE, AND ALL OF Y0UR 3977 OLDE GOAT MEMBERS SEND YOU THEIR BEST.

I HAVE IT THAT YOU WERE BORN IN 1907, BILL. I DON'T WANT TO DWELL ON YOUR AGE, BUT LET'S GET THIS IN PERSPECTIVE: THAT WAS 20 YEARS BEFORE LINDBERGH FLEW THE ATLANTIC, AND IT WAS JUST A COUPLE OF YEARS AFTER THE AUTOMOBILE WAS INTRODUCED. HENRY FORD HAD NOT EVEN THOUGHT ABOUT AN ASSEMBLY LINE. WOW!!

YOU WERE BORN IN FRANKLIN COUNTY, GEORGIA, AND AFTER ATTENDING UNION HILL SCHOOL, YOU FINISHED HIGH SCHOOL IN HARTWELL, GEORGIA. YOUR PRINCIPAL WAS MISS IDA McGUKIN. AND SHE REALLY WANTED TO BE HERE TODAY BUT JUST COULDN'T.

YOU HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE FIRST RADIO IN HERNDON'S DRUG STORE AROUND 1920. IT TURNED OUT THAT YOU WERE THE ONLY ONE WHO COULD TUNE IN THE STATIONS. THE OWNER WOULD CALL OUT "WHERE'S LELAND?" THIS IS REALLY WHEN YOU BEGAN TO GET INTERESTED IN RADIO.

AROUND 1921 OR 1922 YOU DECIDED TO GET SERIOUS AND LEARNED THE MORSE CODE FROM ROSCOE LENDER. YOU REMEMBER THAT HE WAS YOUR TUTOR WITH THE WESTERN UNION AND RAILWAY EXPRESS TELEGRAPH AGENCY IN HARTWELL. YOU FINALLY THOUGHT YOU WERE GOOD ENOUGH TO TAKE ON A JOB AS STATION AGENT IN NEARBY BOWERSVILLE, GEORGIA, BUT FORTUNATELY, THAT DIDN'T LAST.

YOU CAME TO ASHEVILLE WHERE YOU TOOK A JOB WITH FENNER AND BEANE, MEMBERS OF THE NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE, IN THE FLATIRON BUILDING. THIS IS THE ROARING TWENTIES!

AND IN BETWEEN TIMES YOU ALSO WORKED WITH THE WESTERN UNION OFFICE, AND THE ASHEVILLE NEWSPAPER WIRE, TOO. YOU WERE A BUSY FELLOW!! YOU KNEW THAT THE HAMS WERE BEGINNING TO GET ACROSS THE ATLANTIC; SPARK GAP WAS ABOUT DEAD; NOW YOUR INTEREST IN RADIO WAS REALLY POPPIN'! BUT I 'LL COME BACK TO THIS LATER.

YOU WERE LIVING WITH "AUNT ANNIE" WHEN YOU GOT YOUR LICENSE IN 1926. THE FCC INSPECTOR CAME TO ASHEVILLE, YOU WENT TO DINNER, AND THEN, SOMEHOW , YOU BECAME W4AFM. YOU MUST HAVE KNOWN THE INSPECTOR PRETTY GOOD, BECAUSE YEARS LATER YOUR SON GOT THE CALL W4ABM. HMMMM.....

YOU WERE VERY BUSY, BUT NOT TOO BUSY TO TAKE A LIKING TO A YOUNG LADY NAMED "EVA JO." SHE MUST HAVE LIKED YOU TOO, BILL, BECAUSE YOU TWO WERE MARRIED ON SEPTEMBER 14, 1929, JUST BEFORE THE '29 CRASH!! YOUR TIMING WAS GREAT!!

YOU WERE WORKING 60 WORDS A MINUTE ON THE NEW YORK MORSE WIRE AT THE GROVE PARK INN THE DAY OF THE CRASH. WHAT A DAY THAT MUST HAVE BEEN! YOU SAW IT ALL....YOU HEARD IT ALL!!
(For some who may not know, the record for high speed morse was around 65 words a minute.)

AFTER THAT, FENNER AND BEANE CLOSED, THE BANKS CLOSED;NOBODY HAD ANY MONEY. AND YOU DID WHAT EVERYONE DID - ANYTHING! BUT FORTUNE SMILED ON YOU WITH YOUR FIRSTBORN, HELEN, WHO ARRIVED IN 1931.

FENNER AND BEANE HAD AN OPENING FOR YOU IN THE NEW YORK OFFICE, AND YOU MOVED TO NEW JERSEY IN 1933 TO TAKE ON THAT JOB. COMMUTING DAILY FROM MONTCLAIR, NEW JERSEY, YOU BECAME W2GZA. NOW THE FCC BEGAN TO CATCH UP WITH YOU AND YOU GOT A SPECIAL CITATION YOU REALLY DIDN'T WANT - FOR OPERATING OUTSIDE THE BAND!!!

BILL, JR., ARRIVED ON YOUR DOORSTEP IN JUNE OF 1937. YOU TOOK JUST A LITTLE TIME TO OBSERVE HIS ARRIVAL AND THEN YOU GOT BACK ON THE KEY!! THE DX WAS COMING IN AND YOU WERE UP LATE MANY TIMES.

NOW YOU ARE WORKING FOR DUMONT LABS, FOR DR. DUMONT AND OTHERS, ON VARIOUS PROTOTYPES. YOU STAYED ON WITH THEM THROUGH THE WAR, ALSO BECOMING SORT OF A HEADQUARTERS FOR THE LOCAL CIVIL DEFENSE EFFORTS IN YOUR SPARE MOMENTS. YOU WERE THE PLANT MANAGER AT THE PASSAIC, NEW JERSEY PLANT FOR ABOUT 14 YEARS.

AFTER THE WAR, YOU HAD TO COME SOUTH AGAIN, AND YOU BEGAN TO PUT YOUR FIRST CLASS RADIOTELEPHONE LICENSE TO WORK, INSTALLING A RADIO STATION AT HARTWELL, WKLY.

BUT ASHEVILLE BECKONED, SO IN 1947 IT WAS BACK TO THE LAND OF THE SKY WITH YOUR STILL YOUNG FAMILY. YOU SERVED AS PURCHASING AGENT FOR SEVERAL COMPANIES, ENDING YOUR CAREER AT CP CLAIR. BUT YOU WEREN'T THROUGH! YOU KEPT ON "RADIOING," WITH FRECK'S RADIO STORE AND LATER CARL SMITH, BEFORE YOU FINALLY "REALLY" RETIRED.

YOU HELPED A LOT OF PEOPLE LEARN THE CODE AND ELECTRONICS, LIKE EVERETT MCDADE. CLASSES, AFTER HOURS, WHATEVER IT TOOK, YOU WERE THERE, BILL HAYES. AND YOU HAD A LOT OF FRIENDS ON 75 METERS, THE "OLDE GOATS." DID YOU BRING HENRY WESTMORELAND, OR DID HE BRING YOU IN??

WELL... YOU HAD JUST A LITTLE TO DO WITH THE ASHEVILLE HAM CLUB, TOO. YOU WERE THERE WHEN CASH GREGG WAS PRESIDENT, QUIMBY SMITH WAS VICE PRESIDENT, AND BILL McRORIE WAS TREASURER. YOU WERE THE PUBLICITY CHAIRMAN. THE CLUBHOUSE WAS ON VICTORIA ROAD. YOU HAD A JOHNSON VIKING II AND A HALLICRAFTERS SX-25. THE CLUB ALSO MET IN THE NAVAL TRAINING CENTER, IN A SMALL BUNGALO 8 MILES FROM TOWN, AND ON THE CAMPUS OF ST. FRANCIS HIGH SCHOOL.

JO, HOW DID YOU PUT UP WITH ALL THIS?? AND YOU WERE A GOLF WIDOW, TOO!! BUT, YOU AND BILL ALSO ACQUIRED A GRANDSON AND TWO GRANDDAUGHTERS ALONG THE WAY. PRETTY GOOD!!

BUT FOLKS ..NOW IT HAS TO BE TOLD...I MEAN THE REAL STORY....

THE PART THAT IS MISSING HERE, THAT HAS NOT BEEN TOLD BEFORE, TOOK PLACE JUST AFTER THE HAMS "GOT ACROSS" THE ATLANTIC IN 1922. WHAT YOU ALL ARE GOING TO HEAR NOW I LEARNED FROM SOME OF THE ARRL RECORDS, AND FROM THE FCC.

I LEARNED THAT AFTER THE HAMS STARTING TALKING ACROSS THE ATLANTIC, THE ARRL HAD BOXES AND BOXES OF QSL CARDS FROM AMATEURS IN GERMANY, ENGLAND, AFRICA, EURASIA, AUSTRALIA - JUST ABOUT EVERYWHERE - THAT THEY COULDNT DELIVER. THEY WERE ADDRESSED TO CALLSIGNS THAT DIDN'T EXIST, LIKE 4JO, OR 4AF, 4AM, 4BS, OR 4ASH. AND THEY ARE STILL SITTING THERE AT THE HEADQUARTERS. THIS WAS JUST WHAT YOU THOUGHT: A BOOTLEG OPERATION!! YOU DIDN'T DO ANYTHING HALFWAY, BILL!!!

NOW, THIS IS WHY "AUNT ANNIE" MADE YOU GET THAT LICENSE IN 1926! SHE KNEW YOU WERE UP TO SOMETHING!

BUT, THIS IS 1998, AND THE ARRL ISN'T TOO CONCERNED, BUT THE FCC STILL IS!! THEIR RECORDS SHOWED THAT THE OPERATOR WAS JUMPING ALL AROUND, FROM NEW JERSEY TO NORTH CAROLINA AND OTHER PLACES. THEY KNEW HE WAS OPERATING OUT OF A SUITCASE, AND THEY KNEW HE HAD A REALLY GOOD RIG. IN FACT, THEY SAID THAT IF THEY COULD GET THAT RIG, JUST TO SEE IT, THEY WOULD DROP ALL THE CHARGES!!

I DON'T HAVE THE SUITCASE.....BUT I DO HAVE THE RIG....

{BILL IS PRESENTED WITH QCF HOMEBREW SPECIAL}

(Editor's Note: We hope to add more photos of the event, and the rig, in the near future! If you have a story about Bill, or a memory you'd like to share, please send it to me by email.)