[R-390] HOSSTRADERS - Is It Just a Memory?

[Todd Bigelow - PS]

Mike -

Good seeing you Saturday, too bad it was overshadowed by this mess. Keep me
in mind if these things suddenly materialize in New England and you need to
retreive them. I'll volunteer my truck and time to the effort. Shouldn't be
much more difficult for us than hauling your T-3 home?

I did cross my mind that this could've taken place at some time other than
the hamfest - maybe some trailer park or campground owner? Seems more likely
that a truck or van and a few parties grabbed them while the gates were open,
though.

Best regards to Cynthia and Yettive. Let me know how I can help -

~Boomer

Michael Crestohl wrote:

> I'm sure there are very few hams
> and electronic hobbyists within 300 miles of Southern New Hampshire who
> have never been to the Hosstraders flea market at least once in their
> lives. Some of us have been going since the mid 1970s and I'm sure that
> the majority of attendees will say unequivocally that it is the best
> tailgating swap fest there is - bar none!  The original
> {quot}Hosstraders; Joe Demaso, K1RQG, Bob Tiffany W1GWU and Norm Blake
> WA1IVB  have been running this landmark event every May for over 25
> years (and since 1984, in October as well).  By their own
> calculations they have raised over one million dollars to benefit the
> Shriners Hospitals for sick and injured children in Boston, Springfield
> and Montreal.  Truly an outstanding accomplishment.
>
> There are many of us who have seen Hosstraders grow to a small tailgate
> flea market in a Seabrook NH parking lot to the magnificent Deerfield
> Fairgrounds (with an unforgettable side trip to Kingston NH in 1986), to
> the Rochester Fairgrounds aka {quot}Rainchester{quot} 1993-1999, and most
> recently in 2000 to the beautiful Hopkinton State Fairgrounds just a
> short ride up I-89 from Concord NH.  The Hosstraders is more than a
> flea market - it is a community; a family if you will, with a weekly
> equipment swap net on 75 meters in addition to the semi-annual
> get-togethers.
>
> We all have tons of personal memories from many years of going to
> Hosstraders and loads of great stuff in our ham shacks, work benches or
> computer rooms to show for it.  We've had a whole lot of lot of fun
> in the process and Hosstraders has become a very important part of our
> lives - a cultural event we can look forward to through the long hard
> cold New England winter.  It has been a true rite of spring every
> year and even now that the Fall 2002 Hosstraders is only a day in the
> past as I write this we are all looking forward to the Spring 2003
> event.
>
> But will there be an event next spring or for that matter ever
> again?  This remains to be seen.  It has been the Hosstraders
> custom to print the next years dates on the tickets every year but if you
> were there last October 4th or 5th and looked at yours you may have
> wondered why there were no 2003 dates on it. Here's why.
>
> There has not been a contract signed with the Fair Committee for any
> future events because last May several unknown persons stole three 25 kV
> power utility step-down transformers, commonly called {quot}Pole
> Pigs{quot}, from the fairgrounds during the Hosstraders weekend.
> For those of you unfamiliar with these things, pole pigs are very large
> and heavy.  Two guys in a Dodge Neon couldn't have done this.
> It would take at least three strong people with a big pick-em-up truck to
> haul them away.  The only use these things have to hams is to
> reverse connect them and use them for a (very) high power transmitter or
> amplifier. They have little scrap value and even less resale value
> because they are all numbered and no power company would touch
> them.