A small group of us go to Rochester every year, and usually on the
Friday. This year we arrived about 9am on Friday to find it mostly
empty. Did the local organizers not promote it this year? Or is it
changing into a Saturday only affair? Even with the scarcity of vendors
we all found some unique stuff, so we were all happy to be there, but it
would have been nicer had it been mostly filled, as was the case for the
last 10 years. I can only hope the fairgrounds filled in on Saturday.

Anyone here attend on Saturday (or better still, Friday and Saturday)
and did most of the vacant spaces fill up?



'73
Bob

bob wrote:
A small group of us go to Rochester every year, and usually on the
Friday. This year we arrived about 9am on Friday to find it mostly
empty. Did the local organizers not promote it this year? Or is it
changing into a Saturday only affair? Even with the scarcity of vendors
we all found some unique stuff, so we were all happy to be there, but it
would have been nicer had it been mostly filled, as was the case for the
last 10 years. I can only hope the fairgrounds filled in on Saturday.

Anyone here attend on Saturday (or better still, Friday and Saturday)
and did most of the vacant spaces fill up?



'73
Bob
I was there on Sat. Hadnt been in 6 or so yrs. I would say the flea
market was about 90% full or less. Inside I don't remember it being so
sparse. They say hamfests are declining except maybe in retirement ares
like Florida.

Pretty soon Hamfests will evolve into who's got the better computer for the
IRLP or Echolink sytems. Within a few short years, computers will be running
everything!



"John" wrote in message
...
bob wrote:
A small group of us go to Rochester every year, and usually on the
Friday. This year we arrived about 9am on Friday to find it mostly
empty. Did the local organizers not promote it this year? Or is it
changing into a Saturday only affair? Even with the scarcity of vendors
we all found some unique stuff, so we were all happy to be there, but it
would have been nicer had it been mostly filled, as was the case for the
last 10 years. I can only hope the fairgrounds filled in on Saturday.

Anyone here attend on Saturday (or better still, Friday and Saturday)
and did most of the vacant spaces fill up?



'73
Bob
I was there on Sat. Hadnt been in 6 or so yrs. I would say the flea
market was about 90% full or less. Inside I don't remember it being so
sparse. They say hamfests are declining except maybe in retirement ares
like Florida.

Butler. PA was alive and well!!


"bob" wrote in message
...
A small group of us go to Rochester every year, and usually on the Friday.
This year we arrived about 9am on Friday to find it mostly empty. Did the
local organizers not promote it this year? Or is it changing into a
Saturday only affair? Even with the scarcity of vendors we all found some
unique stuff, so we were all happy to be there, but it would have been
nicer had it been mostly filled, as was the case for the last 10 years. I
can only hope the fairgrounds filled in on Saturday.

Anyone here attend on Saturday (or better still, Friday and Saturday) and
did most of the vacant spaces fill up?



'73
Bob

x-no-archive:yes

I've been at every one since 1992. The flea market at this one was not
even 40% of capacity, not even close to the attendance of a few short
years ago also. Entire rows were skipped for parking, wide areas were
available everywhere. That would never have happened as recently as
2000. It's just a fact of life nowadays. The inside was barren, but
attendance has been shrinking each year anyway, few vendors bother,
they say it's not worth the trip for the low sales. The good stuff is
on eBay anyway.

John wrote:

I was there on Sat. Hadnt been in 6 or so yrs. I would say the flea
market was about 90% full or less. Inside I don't remember it being so
sparse. They say hamfests are declining except maybe in retirement ares
like Florida.

well it's HIS opinion
some of us did very well in flea market
saw a LOT of nice old stuff but not much NEW for sale
all the BIG spenders were holding onto $
looking for that Orion at 1000 $ or FT1000MP at 1000.
why NO SPAM?
too embarrassed to I.D.?
de al g.

wrote in message ...
x-no-archive:yes

I've been at every one since 1992. The flea market at this one was not
even 40% of capacity, not even close to the attendance of a few short
years ago also. Entire rows were skipped for parking, wide areas were
available everywhere. That would never have happened as recently as
2000. It's just a fact of life nowadays. The inside was barren, but
attendance has been shrinking each year anyway, few vendors bother,
they say it's not worth the trip for the low sales. The good stuff is
on eBay anyway.

John wrote:

I was there on Sat. Hadnt been in 6 or so yrs. I would say the flea
market was about 90% full or less. Inside I don't remember it being so
sparse. They say hamfests are declining except maybe in retirement ares
like Florida.

x-no-archive:yes

It's certainly not an opinion that less than 50% of the available flea
market spaces were taken by people selling. That's a fact. I should be
more specific, by "vendors" I mean dealers, not "tailgaters". The big
ones (including manufacturers) weren't there and say they will not
return due to low attendance and sales. That's also a fact. Ask the
folks who run the hamfest, though unless you know somebody you'll get
the runaround. It gets worse every year, only a matter of time until
it's over.

I lnow better than to use my real name and e-mail address on Usenet.

"AL GOSS" wrote:

well it's HIS opinion
some of us did very well in flea market
saw a LOT of nice old stuff but not much NEW for sale
all the BIG spenders were holding onto $
looking for that Orion at 1000 $ or FT1000MP at 1000.
why NO SPAM?
too embarrassed to I.D.?
de al g.

wrote in message ...
x-no-archive:yes

I've been at every one since 1992. The flea market at this one was not
even 40% of capacity, not even close to the attendance of a few short
years ago also. Entire rows were skipped for parking, wide areas were
available everywhere. That would never have happened as recently as
2000. It's just a fact of life nowadays. The inside was barren, but
attendance has been shrinking each year anyway, few vendors bother,
they say it's not worth the trip for the low sales. The good stuff is
on eBay anyway.

John wrote:

I was there on Sat. Hadnt been in 6 or so yrs. I would say the flea
market was about 90% full or less. Inside I don't remember it being so
sparse. They say hamfests are declining except maybe in retirement ares
like Florida.

Is Harold running it into the ground? I have seen it go from SUPER packed in
the mid to late 90s to the way it is now & the management hasn't tried too
much to help it.


wrote in message ...
x-no-archive:yes

It's certainly not an opinion that less than 50% of the available flea
market spaces were taken by people selling. That's a fact. I should be
more specific, by "vendors" I mean dealers, not "tailgaters". The big
ones (including manufacturers) weren't there and say they will not
return due to low attendance and sales. That's also a fact. Ask the
folks who run the hamfest, though unless you know somebody you'll get
the runaround. It gets worse every year, only a matter of time until
it's over.

I lnow better than to use my real name and e-mail address on Usenet.

"AL GOSS" wrote:

well it's HIS opinion
some of us did very well in flea market
saw a LOT of nice old stuff but not much NEW for sale
all the BIG spenders were holding onto $
looking for that Orion at 1000 $ or FT1000MP at 1000.
why NO SPAM?
too embarrassed to I.D.?
de al g.

wrote in message ...
x-no-archive:yes

I've been at every one since 1992. The flea market at this one was not
even 40% of capacity, not even close to the attendance of a few short
years ago also. Entire rows were skipped for parking, wide areas were
available everywhere. That would never have happened as recently as
2000. It's just a fact of life nowadays. The inside was barren, but
attendance has been shrinking each year anyway, few vendors bother,
they say it's not worth the trip for the low sales. The good stuff is
on eBay anyway.

John wrote:

I was there on Sat. Hadnt been in 6 or so yrs. I would say the flea
market was about 90% full or less. Inside I don't remember it being so
sparse. They say hamfests are declining except maybe in retirement ares
like Florida.

yes, I suspect is Harold's fault
Buffalo fest also run by him, will be next !

"Chas" wrote in message
.net...
Is Harold running it into the ground? I have seen it go from SUPER packed
in
the mid to late 90s to the way it is now & the management hasn't tried too
much to help it.


wrote in message ...
x-no-archive:yes

It's certainly not an opinion that less than 50% of the available flea
market spaces were taken by people selling. That's a fact. I should be
more specific, by "vendors" I mean dealers, not "tailgaters". The big
ones (including manufacturers) weren't there and say they will not
return due to low attendance and sales. That's also a fact. Ask the
folks who run the hamfest, though unless you know somebody you'll get
the runaround. It gets worse every year, only a matter of time until
it's over.

I lnow better than to use my real name and e-mail address on Usenet.

"AL GOSS" wrote:

well it's HIS opinion
some of us did very well in flea market
saw a LOT of nice old stuff but not much NEW for sale
all the BIG spenders were holding onto $
looking for that Orion at 1000 $ or FT1000MP at 1000.
why NO SPAM?
too embarrassed to I.D.?
de al g.

wrote in message ...
x-no-archive:yes

I've been at every one since 1992. The flea market at this one was not
even 40% of capacity, not even close to the attendance of a few short
years ago also. Entire rows were skipped for parking, wide areas were
available everywhere. That would never have happened as recently as
2000. It's just a fact of life nowadays. The inside was barren, but
attendance has been shrinking each year anyway, few vendors bother,
they say it's not worth the trip for the low sales. The good stuff is
on eBay anyway.

John wrote:

I was there on Sat. Hadnt been in 6 or so yrs. I would say the flea
market was about 90% full or less. Inside I don't remember it being
so
sparse. They say hamfests are declining except maybe in retirement
ares
like Florida.

On Tue, 07 Jun 2005 21:36:15 GMT, "Chas" wrote:

Is Harold running it into the ground? I have seen it go from SUPER packed in
the mid to late 90s to the way it is now & the management hasn't tried too
much to help it.

Yes. It is way past time to pass the torch on to someone younger than
80 who has the energy to keep it going.

Quote attributed to him by an insider: "I will take it to the grave
with me."

And in the good years he ****ed off vendors who never came back.