“Nice crowd showed up,” said Greene County Sheriff Gene Fischer. “I met a ton of people from a ton of different locations.”
An estimated 30,000 people showed up to the days-long ham radio convention.
Randy Arnett, owner of Moorman’s Towing in Xenia, said his company was called to the scene to help many of those motorists get their vehicles out of the muddy fields, that are typically reserved for soccer.
“Mother nature got us a little bit,” Arnett said. “The staff said we have cars stuck so we jumped on it.”
Arnett said he used a winch on a Bobcat to help pull the vehicles out. He estimated about 250 vehiles were stuck in the mud Saturday, and another 50 or so on Sunday.
Fischer said the soccer fields will need rolled flat again. The fields are operated by Greene County Parks and Trails.
“There’s a cost of doing business,” Fischer said.
Park officials have said Hamvention organizers will help with the cleanup costs. Convention organizers have already purchased a roller.
“For the turnout they had, it’s just one of those complications,” Arnett said, who hopes to see the festival again. “They’ll go in there and straighten it up.”
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