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<font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>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 "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.<br><br>
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 "Rainchester" 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.<br><br>
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.<br><br>
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.<br><br>
To find out why, read Part II...................<br><br>
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