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

Sat, 12 Oct 2002 14:18:17 -0400

Wait a minute here--
What proof is there that anyone affiliated with Hosstraders did this deed??
When EXACTLY was this theft discovered? By whom? Who else had access /
opportunity / motive? Who has investigated this? What are their motives /
connections ?
Has any of this been checked out, or are we dealing with a "Well. we noticed
the loss after Hosstraders, and since the missing stuff was electrical in
nature, it must have been the hams"??
Without answers to the above, I, for one , refuse to accept this story on
face value. If someone was plotting such a deed, it would make a certain
degree of sense to try and shift the blame to the most "likely
suspects" --us !
I have been attending this event fairly regularly since 1980, and would hate
to see it flounder. Let's put some head-work into this. There IS an answer.
Chuck N1LNH
----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Crestohl" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, October 11, 2002 6:35 AM
Subject: [R-390] HOSSTRADERS - Is It Just a Memory?

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.&nbsp; 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.

The three {quot}Hosstraders{quot} announced this news to the assembled
crowd at the one o'clock prize drawing and made an appeal for anyone with
knowledge or any information about this theft to step forward and help
get them back.  As it stands there will be no questions asked the
matter will be dropped if the transformers are returned.  If you
know anything about this you may contact any one of the Hosstraders or
any of the undersigned and help us get these back to the Fairgrounds as
soon as possible.  Your identity will not be revealed to anyone else
involved.  The transformers may be dropped off at several locations
and no one will see anything.  That will be the end of it.

However if the stolen transformers are not recovered soon the
investigation by the authorities will proceed.  The owners intend to
vigorously prosecute anyone found to be involved in the theft and it is a
pretty sure bet that there will be jail time if they are convicted.
The Hosstraders have offered to assume financial responsibility for the
missing items and pay for them.  This is a substantial amount -
several thousand dollars that would otherwise go to the Shriners and
their hospitals.  The other consequence to us all is that there will
be no future contracts signed for the Hopkinton Fairgrounds and it is a
sure bet that no other such facility will sign one either.  This
would mean the end of Hosstraders!

We are personally outraged by this theft and the prospect of not having
the Hosstraders events to look forward to in the future.  We want to
help get this matter resolved to everyone's satisfaction as soon as
possible so plans for May and October 2003 can proceed.  We want to
help Norm, Joe and Bob raise a second million for the hospitals.  We
want more Hosstraders, more stuff, more good times and more
memories!

Of course we are hoping that someone will step forward and help get the
transformers back and as mentioned we will act as intermediaries.
We can guarantee your anonymity and assure you that no questions will be
asked.  For the rest of you please do not speculate or point fingers
at anyone or any particular groups of hams.  It will not solve
anything and only serve to alienate and divide us at a time when we must
all stand together to save our Hosstraders.  It has been suggested
that publicizing this unfortunate incident will reflect poorly on amateur
radio but we do not feel that it is so.  We should not nor cannot
assume legal responsibility for the acts of a few criminal
individuals.  Remember, the Hosstraders is a public event and anyone
with the price of admission is eligible to enter.  There is no hard
evidence that we know of as to exactly when these items disappeared or
that the persons who stole these items were attending the flea market or
are licensed hams, although practically speaking, who else would have any
use for them?

Nonetheless, we need to take the practical responsibility here and see to
it that this incident is quickly resolved to the satisfaction of the Fair
Committee and the Hosstraders organizers to ensure that the event does
not die due to the criminal and irresponsible acts of a small group of
individuals.  It is conceivable that in the five months that has
elapsed these transformers have been disassembled or even disposed of and
are simply not available for return.  If for whatever reason they do
not surface within a reasonable time, say the end of October, we would
like to recommend the following course of action  Suitable and
equivalent replacements be located, purchased and offered to the
Fairgrounds Committee requesting them to sign the 2003 contract thus
allowing us to continue holding the event at Hopkinton.  We figure
that three new custom-made replacements can be purchased for about
$1,000.00 apiece from a manufacturer in the Midwest.  Then next May
and October if necessary, have a {quot}drop bucket{quot} for people to
contribute to the cost of purchasing the replacements.  As an
alternative a surcharge be added to the gate fees until the cost has been
recovered with any overage going to the Shriners.  Knowing the
Hosstraders community as we do we have no doubt that this sum will be
quickly and cheerfully raised.

It would gall us to have to pay for what the thieves stole last May but
we all must collectively bear the financial responsibility and not permit
the Shriners Hospitals to lose out which they would in the final
analysis.  A million bucks buys a lot of equipment which can save
lives and alleviate suffering of sick and injured children and we'd like
to see this outstanding act of benevolence on the part of Norm, Joe and
Bob and everyone else involved in this wonderful happening that has
become a very important part of our lives to continue to the two or even
three million dollar level. We just cannot and will not allow three or
four common thieves to take this away from us.

Signed

Michael Crestohl, W1RC

[email protected]

(802) 296-5050

PO Box 511

Hartford VT 05047-0511

Michael N Raisbeck, K1TWF

[email protected]

(978) 250-1235

85 High Street,

Chelmsford MA 01824

Allen H Weiner, WBCQ The Planet,

[email protected]

97 High Street

Kennebunk ME 04043

(207)985-7547

Timothy M Smith, WA1HLR,

[email protected]

The Hosstraders official Web site is:
http://www.qsl.net/k1rqg.

It is the only source for official news about the Hosstraders and their
events.

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