The club hosts annual Kirkreit summer picnic for club members and their guests every year in August at Fort Steilacoom Park in Lakewood. Besides sharing a delicious lunch members set up portable operating stations, play a game of RINGO (radio bingo) where fabulous prizes of negligeable worth will awarded to the contestants, and get to meet family members!
Origin of the Kirkreit Picnic
Jim (SK) and Judy Kirkreit were very active members of RCT. Jim was President of the club in 1994 and 1995, and he received the Doc Spike award in 1995. Judy remains a lifetime member of the club.
RCT had long held a summer picnic, known as "DK at the Beach", at the Owen Beach waterfront area of Pt. Defiance Park. In addition to socializing and consumption of tasty picnic fare, this activity typically included field operation of equipment along with antenna demonstrations and shootouts. In 2006, the Tacoma Park Service rendered the Owen Beach location less desirable by raising fees and making cooking facilities (grills and fireplaces) unusable. That year, the summer picnic was moved to Spanaway Lake, and beginning in 2007 the event became the Kirkreit Memorial Picnic.
