The "Official" Hosstraders web site
Hosstraders
2007
See Below Updated Feb 9, 2007 |
Hosstraders Mission Statement
The Hosstraders Tailgate Swapfest, as it is officialy known, is
an
outgrowth of the Hosstraders Net which
was a regular Sunday afternoon feature on 3940 khz, starting in
the Fifties. Joe K1RQG, prime net
control, Norm WA1IVB(now W1ITT), and Bob W1GWU decided, at the
prodding
of some participants to
close the winter net season with a swapfest somewhere in New
England.
The purpose of the gathering
was mainly social, with hosstrading a secondary concern. The first
event was held at Seabrook NH in 1973,
and lost a little money, but a good time was had by all and it was
resolved to do it again.
With each passing year, the event became more successful, moving
from Seabrook to Deerfield, briefly to
Kingston after some fools came close to burning a barn down , on
to Rochester, and now to Hopkinton
State Fairgrounds, New Hampshire's finest agricultural location.
The event began turning a profit while still at Seabrook. After
supporting
the March of Dimes campaign
one year, we started sending our profits to Shriners' Hospitals
through Simadi Shrine Club. In 2002 our
cumulative gift broke one million dollars. The Shriners now
handle some logistics, leaving Joe, Bob and Norm to
concentrate on other things.
The focus of Hosstraders remains on providing Radio Amateurs in
the
Northeast with a place to gather
twice a year to socialize, to provide a commercial venue for the
sale of Amateur Radio equipment and closely
related gear, and to continue to support our favorite charities...
the Shriners Hospitals for burned and crippled
children. After the payment of our miserly expenses, every
cent is allocated through Simadi Shrine Club, of
New Hampshire's Bektash Temple, to the hospitals in Boston,
Springfield
and Montreal.
The Hosstraders is occasionally described as a benevolent
dictatorship,
run entirely by the three afore-
mentioned people. As such, it is not open to broader membership
or even suggestions on most days.
We realize that many people over the years have had ideas on how
to change Hosstraders. Looking at
things from the broader perspective of a third of a century
of operating this event, we generally prefer
to maintain things as they are. Such attitudes are not
uncommon
when young men begin to evolve into
old buzzards. Hosstraders works.
We ask for your continued support and mostly for your cooperation
in maintaining the spirit of the event.
We hope you will respect our hosts, the Hopkinton State Fair
Association
and their property( and maybe
even come back to visit their Fair. ) Also, the Shriners do a
wonderful
job in fair weather and foul, and
ask only for courtesy and occasionally exact change. Your
hosts, Joe , Bob and Norm operate this event
in their spare time, and at some personal expense. They ask
that you come and enjoy yourselves in a
manner that does not detract from the enjoyment of others.
* Remember *
The only official word regarding the Hosstraders Hamfest is from the
following three stations:
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