Seventy-six vendors bring life to revived event
Four years in the making, the revived Hamilton County Home and Garden Show made its way back to the fairgrounds this past weekend with 76 vendors showcasing their businesses to the community. In addition Memorial Community Health presented its 2024 Health Fair on Saturday.
Co-coordinating the home show this year was Ag Society board treasurer, Christina Dose, and board member, Alan Charlton, who estimated more than 950 people attended throughout the weekend.
“We’ve had a great turnout yesterday with Friday being the first Friday we’ve ever had it,” Dose said on Saturday afternoon. “We were very pleasantly surprised with the turnout we had for a Friday afternoon. Today we’re not even halfway done and we’ve had a great turnout.”
Visitors on Saturday morning were able to get freshly made pancakes at the concessions area courtesy of Hampton’s FFA chapter.
“(It was a) great turnout for pancakes,” Dose commented. “Everybody’s very happy and they say thank you to everybody. It’s a great day so far.”
From the feedback heard from the vendors, Charlton stated that there were great interactions between vendors and customers.
“Everybody was really happy with the crowd we had last night,” Charlton commented. “I, myself was amazed at how many people we had in here before 7 p.m. We’ve kind of tapered off about 7:30 p.m., but we had a good steady crowd all the way up until 7:30.”
Both Charlton and Dose commented the number of vendors between new and returning was evenly split this year.
One of the vendors making a first appearance at home show was John Lawson of Omaha, who brought his display of jewelry and rings that he crafted from a variety of coins as part of his business, Priceless Change.
“It’s been good when I can get people to stop and see what it is,” Lawson said. “They are generally amazed. Most people aren’t out buying jewelry and some people are interested, but they’re not out buying it. But when I get them to realize those were made out of coins they’re like ‘What? Wait!’ and they’ll stop, slow down.”
First-time vendor Alexia Ramirez-Fields of Fremont expected challenges with taking her business, Pear Bear Creations, on the road but was happy with her experience at the show.
“This is actually my first show ever,” Ramirez-Field said. “I didn’t know what to expect, but it’s been good.”
While many new vendors embraced the challenge of showcasing in a different venue, long-time vendors talked about the milestones they had passed since their previous appearance in Aurora in 2019.
Both of the event coordinators also commented on the challenges of their first time as coordinators.
“This has been the first one I’ve really taken care of and it’s been kind of a learning curve,” Charlton stated. “A lot more work than I had really planned on, but things fell together and vendors have come in and taken care of what they needed.”
Outside of the few “vendor hiccups,” he said the event has been running smoothly.
“I’m coming in from being a vendor,” Dose commented. “I’ve always been a vendor at the home show and this has been a great show. Very smooth, it’s almost like when Keith (Wasem) ran it.”
Another long-time vendor, Karla Ericksen, was excited to return for a third year.
“It was really nice seeing everybody out here and we’ve had a really great turnout,” Ericksen said. “I have a good space here and it’s just really enjoyable to come out and see all these other vendors out here. I’ve just had such a super fun time.”
Returning vendor Chris Friesen, who has worked as a representative of Astro Buildings for seven years at the show, was glad to see it return and help businesses like his get the word out.
“It’s been a good experience,” Friesen stated. “Every year we get a couple of leads out here that turn into business sales, so it’s well worth our time.”
One event on Saturday was the presentation of the booths winning Best of Show honors.
The first booth to receive a ribbon for its hard work and display was Lincoln Creek Landscaping with Ian Mertlik and Carrie Peterson accepting the ribbon.
“Lincoln Creek Landscaping, the display they put on here in the building just went above and beyond with the amount of work and the amount of detail they put into the display,” Charlton commented. “It really shows their effort into what they put into.”
Ruthie Kay Boutique was also selected for Best in Show, with Ericksen receiving a ribbon.
“Ruthie Kay just really came in and did a lot of detail and a lot of extra work,” Charlton stated. “She just knocked it out of the park for her area. It just puts it over the top.”
Ericksen said she was surprised and ecstatic that she was one of the two vendors selected to receive the honor.
“I didn’t even expect it, so it was really great,” she said. “It makes me feel pretty loved and appreciated. It’s always a good time to come out here to the fairgrounds. This is a great building, it’s run really well and they do a great job like this.”
The Health Fair also had a successful turnout according to fair coordinator Tina Hunt, who estimated that attendance had reached over 400 visitors.
“It’s been nice to see a lot of engagement with those who come in to see the food vendors and demonstrations,” Hunt stated. “It’s been a great interaction.”
With the collaboration between the two shows going back 20 years, health fair coordinator ReAnn Regier said she was happy to see the home show return.
“It’s been a great partnership because we get people coming here to get their (blood) profile results and they in turn, go over to the home show,” Regier explained.
Charlton said the feeling was mutual.
“Her show complements us and we complement hers,” Charlton stated. “It’s a great working relationship we have with the hospital and ReAnn Regier on this. I just wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Dose stated none of the home show’s success would have been possible without the support of the vendors and the community.
“We would like to thank the community for coming out and supporting us being back after three years,” Dose stated. “This is the first that we had since COVID hit. They have shown up in droves to support the little Tempo dancers who have been here, they have talked to all of the vendors, with concessions from FFA, I can’t even thank enough. They’ve had a great turnout and I really want to thank the Aurora community for supporting our event.”
Charlton thanked Jeremy Brandt and his crew from the county highway department for clearing the “crater” in the parking lot and cleaning up the fairgrounds for the event.
Dose commented dates have already been set for next year’s home show which is proposed to take place on Friday, Feb. 7 and Saturday, Feb. 8.
“Times might change a little bit depending on the how we get the feedback from vendors this year,” she said, “but definitely keep those dates in mind.”