Gail's Show Report:
I arrived at 8 a.m. on the dot at the Grovewood
Gallery, but Edie, her husband and Pat Pettyjohn were already
there putting up the booth. We were joined almost immediately
by Kay, Maggie and Suzanne Ivester.
We were lucky enough to get the first position
down that little alley way where we were last year (in fact almost
all booths were in the same alley), and there was room enough
to have a demo space next to the booth. So we took a long table
from the gallery and installed Maggie at one end and Suzanne
at the other. They had a constant crowd all day long until 4
p.m. when their rearends couldn't stand it anymore on those little
wooden chairs. They were personally responsible for converting
lots of people into poly-enthusiasts. Don't be surprised if we
have a few new members this Saturday. Their demo-ing was probably
responsible for our high sales
as well.
Another factor for the high sales is probably
the fact that we had the coolest booth there. Not only was it
"kewl" but it was literally cool, what with the fan
we had purring away at the back of the booth beneath our lovely
and inspiring BRPCG sign.
But from the time the show opened until
about 5 p.m. we had people constantly streaming through and buying
things. One child was heard to comment that there weren't any
dog magnets - only cats, cats, cats! And the turtle magnets sold
out! So now you know, Byrd. And Maggie did quite well with her
American flag pins on a 4th of July weekend. (Duh! No brainer!)
This year no one thought to bring loose
beads like we did last year (whose beads were those?). But I
asked around, and luckily Maggie had brought a complete case
of loose beads. Boy did those ever sell, eh Maggie? Without her
loose beads and her flags, she might have had a very so-so kind
of day. She also did a rip-roarin' business in uncooked faces,
but that's another story.
Unfortunately, we had the stereotypical
dude walking around with his wife who just had to say, "it's
only Play-Doh," and if I had heard him say that personally,
I would have fired off a sarcastic, "How original!"
But mostly we had an endless supply of admirers and buyers. And
it was a lot
of fun.
As usual, the Grovewood Gallery treated
us well, and provided a lovely lunch. They were constantly on
hand in case we needed anything, and they loaned a piece of carpet
to cover up a rough spot near our booth.
I left at 5 p.m. I'm sorry to say, and
I shouldn't have done it. Poor Edie, her husband and Pat Pettyjohn
had to close up shop all by themselves. The show closed at 7
p.m., but Edie didn't drop off the receipts at my house till
8:30 or so. So Edie, husband and Pat deserve a lot of strokes
for going beyond the call of duty and having a really long day.
We owe you one!
Pat's Show Report:
To all who couldn't make it to Grovewood,
I guess you can see by the tally that it can be considered a
success. It was much better attended than last year's show and
people were really interested in our medium. We had the first
space, which worked out well for demonstation purposes. The Maggie/Suzanne
comedy team kept everyone entertained and they kept a packed
crowd around them most of the day. I think we have a few people
interested in joining our group because of it.
Sales seemed to be spread out among everyone
again this year. This wasn't a sale, but our favorite quote of
the day came from an elderly woman who loved one of Maggie's
necklaces. Her daughter stated that it wouldn't matter what you
wore with it because no one would notice. Much to the chagrin
of the daughter, the mother replied,"I wouldn't want to
wear anything with it!!"
It slowed down quite a bit after 4:00 and
other booths started tearing down before 6:00. I think by 7:00,
we and the TACA booth were the only ones fully up. Both booths
made last minute sales, though and we did not incur the wrath
of Grovewood!!
Edie and I had a chance to discuss our
display and played around a bit with it ( since we had time )
and we have a few suggestions for our next show that might help
our presentation.
All in all, it was a good day!!
