If I asked you what the date June 21st means to you, you’d probably say that sounds like the first official day of summer in the United States. It marks the longest period of daylight for a day this year.

Coincidentally, this date for the summer solstice this year also marks the celebration of Father’s Day in America..

So, what do “Tatu” and “Joshua” have to do with all of this?

Both of these named creatures – whose origins can be traced to the continent of Africa - are mammals and the tallest animals on the planet.

Come on, Sherlock Holmes – it’s elementary!

They are giraffes!

They’re going to be honored with a special event station to be set up on Sunday, June 21st to observe World Giraffe Day from the Lehigh Valley Zoo outside of Allentown where they both now live.

Walt Skavinsky KB3SBC is coordinating the W3G operation on behalf of the Education Alliance for Amateur Radio.

Skavinsky tells Newsline the W3G special event creates a rare intersection of wildlife conservation and communications technology.

He says [quote] "It will give zoo visitors and the public an opportunity to see real-world radio operations in action while celebrating giraffes and supporting awareness of conservation issues for them." [endquote.]

Skavinsky says giraffes in the wild face significant threats including habitat loss and poaching. He says world conservation groups use World Giraffe Day to focus on the silent extinction the gentle creatures are facing.

More details at QRZ-dot-com, search W3G in the call sign window in the upper left box.

By the way, Skavinsky observes [quote] "This may be the only special event station where the antenna is not the tallest thing around." [endquote]