Papa Jack's Trade Day has changed over the last few years. Much like a caterpillar changing into a butterfly, it has slowly become larger and better to gaze upon. A few years ago, it was held at the Tupelo airport, in the parking lot, and was literally a tailgate event. Later it moved to the farmer's market downtown, which gave the hamfest some protection from rain and drizzle. In 2025, it moved to the downtown pavilion in Pontotoc, which is its latest and greatest incarnation.
The pavilion is just off of downtown Pontotoc, on the site of what was once a cotton plant. The original brick building burned, the city bought the property, tore down what was left after the fire (leaving one wall intact as a monument), and built a huge steel frame pavilion. The concrete floor is huge, I'd guess 30,000 to 35,000 square feet. The center of the pavilion is a steel gabled roof with a ridge vent, maybe 25-35 feet up. Giant ceiling fans dot the inside of the roof area.
If you've got the picture, great. If not, let me put it like this: It's big, Andy, it's big.
The vendors were spread around the perimeter of the structure, and the stage in front was the scene of the door prize presentations, which happened every 30 minutes.
The hamfest ran 8AM until noon. The hosts were great folks, and provided coffee and doughnuts in the morning, along with some hot cider. (We didn't try the cider, but heard it was good.) Grand prize was an Icom 7100, donated by Chatt Radio from Chattanooga.
There's always that one t-shirt that needs to be documented....
KJ5HOC hammin' it up with Mr. Pig from the Piggly Wiggly.
Okay, probably the best coverage of the hamfest is the following video, made for the Tupelo ARC. Credits are in the video. (Watch it, it's really well done. We show up around the 12 minute mark.)