For the past 25 years, I've been to about 3 B&R shows every year (I'm an old fart too). Never miss the 2 Eagle River shows, and I usually go to one of the 2 Antigo shows. Seems like there's a whole new generation of vendors taking over now, over the past few years. Most of the guys I've done business with all those years (and I got some real good deals) have moved on, either retired or dead. Even Tom Thumb doesn't come to the shows anymore.
Back in the early-mid 90s, there was a guy that did every show that had about a dozen (maybe more) tables of reloading stuff. He had one whole section of tables, both sides. You name it, he had it. I started reloading 12ga shotgun on a Mec 650 back in the 70s, so I had a good foundation in reloading, but it was this guy that got me into reloading metallic cartridges around 1993. He had a lot of knowledge too, and it was spot-on AFAIK today, years later. He hauled his stuff around in a huge 30'+ motor home, pulled a car behind it. Then one year he wasn't there. I had a whole list of stuff to buy, but he was a no-show. I was told that someone broke into his motor home the night before a show, somewhere down south, and took most of his stuff. He had nowhere near enough insurance coverage on the contents of the motor home, and that put him out of business. I was bummed for a few YEARS. There was only one place at the time that had reloading supplies locally (a True Value hardware) and they didn't have much, and I wasn't hooked up to any internet until 1997 or so. I had to drive down to Ciminos in Merrill (70 miles) or Gander in Wausau (90 miles) just to get gun powder or primers. Now I can get whatever I need in Rhinelander, but back then in those pre-internet days, the B&R shows were the life blood of my reloading.