MowryJournal.com   Life's Passions

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.

The 67th event ever for Mrs M’s Handmade was the 67th Annual Almond Blossom Festival in nearby Quartz Hill. We did the event very successfully last year (we were so young then). It’s a classic community event in a local park. Activities include live music throughout, a carnival, a stage for community groups like dance studios, a beauty contest, a car show … and more.

Last year, we had absolutely perfect weather, and generated sales over $1,300. Of course we were going back! In fact, this was chosen to be 1 of only 2 events that we are doing in the first quarter.

Part of the reason we didn’t want to do first quarter events was the prediction that Godzilla El Nino would swamp Southern California this winter, making outdoor events questionable, at best.

This was our first outdoor event of the year.

It rained.

New Ideas

• With rain forecast for the weekend, we went prepared with tarps, extra spring clamps, garbage bags & plastic sheeting. Oh, and a good attitude. We were ready for the weather, and expected to have good weather on Saturday and showers throughout Saturday night into Sunday morning.

Observations

• I love community events.
• Unfortunately, this event offers zero social media support for vendors – they don’t even have a logo to share.
• Booth fees went up 21% per 10×10 space, plus we went from a single to a double booth. When we go to an event, we only know how to travel big & heavy these days. It’s the motto we followed on the 50+ mile backpack I did with the boys: Go Big Or Go Home.
• We barely fit into Christopher’s truck. Yikes!
• Baseball is truth:

“A good friend of mine used to say, ‘This is a very simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball.  Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains.” Think about that for a while.”

– “Nuke” Laloosh as played by Tim Robbins, in Bull Durham, 1988

• Ironically, there was perfect weather for our first indoor event of the year last month. And, last weekend, it was 80* in SoCal. This weekend? No such luck.
• Two canopies were upside down and tumbling in the gusty wind on Saturday afternoon. No one was hurt … but one vendor who had her canopy rolled into lost her canopy, product & opportunity.
• Shade canopies should always have 25 pounds of additional weight on each leg. I am continually amazed at how many people ignore this basic safety rule. One of our neighbors, for example, had a gallon of water on each leg. That’s about 7 pounds/gallon, and won’t save you if the wind hits your canopy with evil intent.
• The stronger winds were on Sunday. Good thing the unweighted canopies were gone by then.
• The sponsoring organization, the Quartz Hill Chamber of Commerce, clearly stated (I thought) that insurance was the responsibility of each vendor, and asked that a copy of your insurance policy be sent prior to the event. They helpfully provided a link to an insurer that would cover you for $39.
• Come to find out, though, the insurance was not required by the Chamber. It was “the responsibility of each vendor to get insurance.” And, apparently, the vendor that had canopies tumbling in the wind did not insure himself, and refused to pay damages to the vendor that had her canopy – and weekend – shredded through his negligence.
• I had a clipboard on display; I would have sold it to 3 different people if it hadn’t been pre-sold.
• I need to make more clipboards. And sous chef boards. And pig boards. And bottle openers. And routed bowls. And….
• The younger & very pregnant Mrs M visited the event with the adorable Miss P (AKA Granddaughter # 1), with the goal of Miss P enjoying some carnival rides. For context, Miss P is not quite 4 years old. Here’s the conversation:

Miss P: I want to ride the roller coaster!

The Very Pregnant Mrs M: OK.

Miss P: I want you to come with me!

The Very Pregnant Mrs M: I can’t because of the Baby. Nonni can go with you this time. Next time, I can go with you and someone else can hold the Baby.

Miss P: Thank God!!!

The Very Pregnant Mrs M: Why, P! Why do you say that?

Miss P: Because you say it.

• Why do people buy cutting boards? One lady bought hers because her teen-aged daughter left her previous wooden board soaking in the sink overnight. She discovered that the next morning, unfortunately, and she was dressing down her daughter when her teen-aged son strolled in. “What’s the deal, Mom?” he said, “It’s a board!” He then whacked it on the kitchen counter … and it splintered into several pieces. The teenagers immediately excused themselves from the room, I’m told. And, 18 months later, I helped Mom find a wooden cutting board she liked.
• When I arrived at the booth Sunday morning, I discovered we had a zipper failure on the leading corner of our booth’s walls overnight. The strong wind had defeated the zipper … and the flapping wall had allowed wind & rain into the booth. The floor-length tablecloths (which we had carefully lifted & folded over the merchandise) were soaked. The tarps over Mrs M’s tables had blown off. Fortunately, we had no product damage! Other than a display piece that needs to be resurfaced, we had no problems that evaporation will not cure. We got lucky.
• Sunday was breezy & cold, to say the least. It didn’t rain on us after 9am, but it was oh so cold sitting in the shade with the wind shaking the canopies & freezing your bones. This vendor thing, it’s glamorous. Sometimes.
• The best weather of the weekend was at 3pm Sunday. Warm. No wind. And, by then, absolutely no customers.
• Lots of help from some very nice, motivated high school students for load-out. Some all-too-typical disorganization had the wrong vendors plugging up the parking instead of loading their vehicles, but we overcame and got on the road at about 6:15p.
• Because of the help in loading, I didn’t quite get everything in its perfect place. Driving home, the lotion container (a Rubbermaid tote) had its lid blow off on the freeway. No one was hurt by the debris I put on the highway, thankfully. Major kudos to the young man in the next pickup over who got my attention to pull over and check my load; I hope he finds me when he needs a cutting board. No further incidents, and no product was lost.
• Every time the elder Mrs M asks if the packing is done right or if the tie downs are secure or if anything will fly off the truck this time, then everyone owes me a dollar. I’m going to be rich!
• With the weather impact on the event, sales were going to be disappointing, of course. Our booth cost went up $145 over last year, and our sales dropped about $500.
• I know 2 canopies died this weekend, and I suspect several others did as well. If your canopy can’t take 40 mph winds, then don’t come to the Antelope Valley for an event!

The Food

Saturday Breakfast: McDonald’s # 4. Hello, old friend.

Saturday Lunch: Fair food – 3 tacos. Not nearly as good as I hoped.

Saturday Snack: Velda got a funnel cake to share. My few bites were all I wanted, thank you.

Saturday Dinner: Wonderful pasta dinner at home with the family of the Very Pregnant Mrs M.

Sunday Breakfast: Same breakfast, different McDonald’s.

Sunday Lunch: Baked potato with all of the fixings, included some added BBQ rib meat. It was warm, and that’s all I wanted on this very wind-chilled day.

Sunday Snack: Too cold to eat.

Sunday Dinner: After unloading everything, we turned & went to Wolf Creek for an 8:30p dinner. I ordered my favorite dish, Chicken Dijon … which they have taken off the menu. (sigh) The end to a very trying weekend.

The Facts

• Total miles driven: 123
• Booth cost: $240
• # of people we met during the event from the producer: 0
• Visits in our booth by a promoter’s representative: 0
• Total sales: $879
• # containers of product taken: 28
• # boards available: 100
• Saturday alarm: 5:45a
• Sunday alarm: didn’t need one
• # transactions: 20
• # soap & lotion vendors: three others. One was exclusively soap, one was a direct competitor to just about everything that Mrs M does, and the other was exclusively lotions.
• # woodworking vendors: just me
• Edge grain vs. end grain: 3:4
• Returning next year? definitely

Boards sold: 7

2 Cutting Boards (1 sold in its first showing)

1 Large Cutting Board

1 Small Board

1 Lazy Susan (sold in its first showing)

1 Bottle Opener

1 Cheese Board

Lazy Susan 16 – 001. Jatoba, Hard Maple, Black Walnut, Teak, Yellowheart & Canarywood. 15-3/4″ diameter.

Cheese Board # 15 – 065. Black Walnut, Cherry, Hard Maple & Yellowheart. 8″ x 11″ x 3/4″.

Cutting Board 16 – End 006. Hard Maple & Padauk. End grain. 15″ x 21″ x 1-1/2″.

Bottle Opener 15 – 02. Black Walnut, Padauk, Cherry, Jarrah & Jatoba. 5″ x 10″ x 3/4″. Magic Bottle Opener.

Cutting Board 16 – End 012. Cherry, Teak, Padauk, Jatoba, Hard Maple, Yellowheart, Canarywood & Purpleheart. End Grain. 11″ x 14″ x 1-1/4″.

Small Board 16 – 003. Hard Maple, Black Walnut, Cherry, Hickory, Padauk & Jatoba. End grain. 6″ x 10″ x 1″.

Cutting Board 16 – End 009. Cherry, Hard Maple, Padauk, Purpleheart & Honey Locust. End grain. 12″ x 16″ x 1-1/4″.