Ham radio operator keeps lifelines, people and events connected where cellphone technology cannot

By Jennifer Moody
For Lebanon Local

It’s about 10:30 on a Saturday morning. Cyclists blur toward an aid station on Pleasant Valley Road in streaks of fluorescent pink, orange and yellow, hands reaching to snag proffered bottles of water and Gatorade.
“Got those margaritas yet?” one biker calls, waving to the volunteers, who chuckle.
On the gravel roadway shoulder on the east side of the road, Merlin Egan of Lebanon stands next to his Jeep…