Last Saturday was the HUGE annual craft show at Gypsum, Kansas...actually I think it's just west of the actual town of Gypsum. Southeast Saline School - Prairie Patchwork Craft Show! WOW! I went a year ago as a "shopper"...and immediately emailed Cindy and asked her to put me on their mailing list. I knew it was someplace I needed to be.
To begin with....I was assigned to a parking lot. A nice man directed me to back in...right into the unloading area. Before I could get out of the car, young men were opening the back hatch of my car and getting ready to carry stuff in for me! Honor students, football players, debate team, FFA, FHA, cheerleaders....I don't know all the groups that were involved, but they were wonderful. I think I carried my vendor's kit envelope and my diet Coke. They even set up the tables for me! Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.
The booths are a large 12 x 12 feet...and feel even larger. Their aisles are wide and easy to navigate. They boast they are accessible by wheelchairs, walkers, strollers, etc. There are three large gymnasiums, plus a lot of the hallways have booths sponsored/manned by the school teams mentioned above. The cafeteria is set up with food; vegetable soups, chili, pies, cookies, etc.
Prices are wonderful. The people are awesome! The crowd is exceptionally large and friendly. This is the "dream craft show" we are all looking for!!
The show opens at 10 am and closes at 4 pm. There didn't ever seem to be a lull in activity/crowd. I had planned to share the booth but that didn't work out, so I offered to take inventory for two other crafters. Probably a little busier than I wanted to be at times, and probably could have sold more if I could have been two places at once. But, NO complaints!!! I had a terrific day!!!! And my friend's goats' milk soaps went over very well too! He had been at a show in Wichita and on my drive home I spoke with him on the phone. He said he'd had "a pretty good day." So I questioned, "What do you call 'pretty good'?" He thought $70 was "pretty good." When I told him I'd had a VERY good day with his soaps (over 4 times better than his pretty good day), he was one happy camper!!!! As was I!!!! Jewelry sales were up too!
I just have to tell you...next year go to the Prairie Patchwork Craft Show at Gypsum. If you can't find it there, you just don't need it. I saw some really neat Christmas "stuff" that others had purchased and were carrying around with them. I didn't get out of my booth during shopping hours to really look around, but I could see a lot a great stuff even from where I was at.
I think the people who organize and work this craft show deserve a huge round of applause for all of their hard work. Great show!!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!
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