History of the Winter SWL Festival
It was in February 1988 that a group of 40 DXers assembled at the Fiesta Motor Inn in Willow Grove, PA to “just talk radio.” The first Fest was held in the “beautiful pink and purple Pancho Villa Room” at the Fiesta and featured a blizzard and a shooting in the motel restaurant (not a participant!).
The next year the Fest moved to Kulpsville, PA; established a major program effort, and launched the Hospitality Room. As time has passed, the Fest has spawned the Scanner Scum, Father John’s DXers’ prayers, Mr. and Mrs. Hospitality, and the Voice of Pancho Villa (if one were to know such things).
From the 13th Fest, NASWA assumed the responsibility of Fest organization from the “gang of three” (Bob Brown, Dr. Harold Cones and Kris Field), and the pair formerly known as “Mr. and Mrs. Hospitality”, John Figliozzi and Richard Cuff, stepped in as the Organizing Committee, filling the enormous shoes of the gang of three. In spite of its growth, the Fest retains a family reunion atmosphere, and the central mission remains the same: To provide a place to relax and “just talk radio.”