The Board Chronicles is an ongoing series of articles about the adventures of Mrs M’s Handmade as a vendor at community festivals & craft fairs. Mrs M’s subsidiary, Mr M’s Woodshop, has been approved to create this chronicle for the good of vendorkind.
Time for some lemons.
Goleta is 77 miles due west of us. It’s part of the central California coast, north of Santa Barbara. We found local motel prices were, uh, pricey in Santa Barbara County, so we ended up driving another 33 miles to the motel in Buellton.
This was the 24th annual Goleta Lemon Festival, celebrating the area’s lemon orchards.
Didn’t see any.
Velda wanted lemons for her lotion display, so we went to the local grocery store to buy some.
The lemons for sale were products of Chile. Those warning bells just turned into sirens….
New Ideas
- Best attempt to energize social media by the promoter, complete with sending out custom graphic with a timely admonition to invite all of your “clients, friends and followers” to the event. Predictably, the person running the event for the Chamber of Commerce was under 30. Here are the perfect graphics they sent out a few days before the event:
- Mrs M premiered 2 products here: Goat Milk Lotion & Beard Oil. Both were successful introductions. Because she needed more products.
- We were an island, really … our double booth was open on 3 sides. The back of the booth was open, but there was a kids activity business there on Saturday and a kids music activity business there on Sunday. They were open air, so we had great, great visibility on the corner of the vendor area, right next to the kids in plastic bubbles playing in the water. Everybody had to check that out, and we were right there. Perfect location.
Observations
- Could not find the drive in entrance to the event area. I could see the set-up, in the city park, but I couldn’t find the road to get there. Silly me. I was supposed to jump the curb with the not-wide-enough wheel chair ramp, and drive in on the sidewalk. Well, OK, then. Here we go.
- Set up had barely begun when a neighboring canopy blew over and began to tumble towards a bunch of clueless ladies setting up their booth next to their car. I caught the canopy, helped right it and collapse it so it would not harm any people or possessions. The canopy wasn’t weighted at all, of course. When I returned to our booth, Velda and I muttered it together: “Amateurs.”
- Surprisingly small number of vendors. This was not a huge event, and certainly didn’t have 35,000 in attendance, as the information provided by the event on a vendor website promised. There were perhaps a dozen retail vendors (3 of them were jewelry) and perhaps 2 dozen commercial vendors or local companies there promoting their business. There were several food vendors, some of which were local fundraisers selling lemony goodness.
- This Festival is promoted as a family friendly event, and there were LOTS of young families there for the wide range of kids activities. Pony rides to Johnny Jump Ups for tweens. There was a track to drive battery operated John Deere tractors for the 3 year olds. A climbing wall. 4 or 5 bounce houses. Happy kids were everywhere.
- Lots of UCSB students were there as well. No idea why, really … but we had college students, many of which had ridden their bikes to get there. It’s the central coast, after all.
- I got 3 requests for backgammon boards … which is now my most requested item. Hmmmmm. Also a request for salad tongs, which I’ll file under “no.”
- Never expected Velda to say this to me: “Here’s a pretty picture of soap.”
- Best line of the weekend came from a young father there with his wife and 2 carrot-topped children. He was wearing a Cardinals t-shirt, and I commented that I grew up a Cardinals fan, but then converted to the Dodgers when I moved to LA. I congratulated the parents on having 2 red-headed children. Part of the 1%. I observed that I used to have red hair … to which the Dad replied, “Did you lose the red hair when you stopped being a Cardinals fan?”
- You know the event didn’t go well for some when one vendor neighbor told us she’d never do another pop-up event like this.
- Velda was overwhelmed by the business on Saturday: it was Mrs M’s best single day ever. The event was the biggest event ever for Mrs M. Those central coast people must need their handmade lotion. Or, perhaps it was what several people suggested to Velda: we had the best products there. Apparently.
- While Mrs M prospered, Mr M was bored. Last Saturday, I outsold Mrs M, 10:1. This Saturday, Mrs M outsold me, 2:1 … the first time that’s happened in more than a year. And it’s about time!
The Food
Friday Dinner: Firestone Walker Brewing Company, Buellton. To paraphrase MrsMowry, we were drinking better beer than you were.
Saturday Breakfast: McDonald’s # 4 for me & # 1 for Velda. We ate while driving to the event.
Saturday Lunch: Velda’s cheese & cracker presentation. It got kudos from the customers. Of course.
Saturday Snack: Too hot. Who’s hungry?
Saturday Dinner: We couldn’t get a reservation to the Hitching Post, so we were stuck seeking comfort food at Pea Soup Andersen’s. It’s a traditional tourist-driven restaurant on the California 101 highway. And … ’nuff said.
Sunday Breakfast: See Saturday. Still the best option.
Sunday Lunch: Cheese & crackers, part II. Still a good idea.
Sunday Snack: Velda had a lemon beer.
Sunday Dinner: Leftovers at home. 9:15pm.
The Facts
- Total miles driven: 385 (we drive 2 cars to have enough cargo capacity at most events)
- Booth cost: $450 for a handcrafter 10×20
- # of people we met during the event from the producer: 2
- Total sales: $1,784
- # containers of product taken: 23
- # boards available: 104
- Saturday alarm: 5:30a
- Sunday alarm: 5:30a (oops. Should have been 6:30a)
- # transactions: No clue. Velda gave up & stopped counting. For Mrs. M, this was the Best. Event. Ever.
- # soap & lotion vendors: one other, selling soap & lotion bars
- # woodworking vendors: one other, selling kid’s wooden toys
- Edge grain vs. end grain: 12:1
Boards sold: 13
Small Board: 4
Small Sous Chef: 2
Lazy Susan: 2
Small Surfboard: 2
Chess Board: 1
Large Surfboard: 1
Cheese Board: 1
