Two-day Home Show begins Friday

The stage is set for the Hamilton County Home & Garden Show to make its return Friday and Saturday after a three-year pandemic pause, with organizers reporting that the event is sold out with vendors excited to be back.
“Christina and I are pleased with the amount of vendors we’re getting and the response from the public, Ag Society and everybody,” noted Hamilton County Ag Society board member Alan Charlton, who will co-chair this year’s event with Christina Dose. “We are going to be at full capacity (96 vendors) and will probably have a waiting list, which says that people are looking forward to this event.”
Vendors will include a wide variety of mostly local participants including lawn care, landscaping, heating and air, home decor, flooring and cabinets, general construction, candy, insurance, a travel agent as well as the Ag Society itself.
Back on the calendar for the second weekend in February, this once annual event will have a familiar look and feel, with one major change reflected in the schedule. The 2024 Home Show will begin on Friday then conclude on Saturday, rather than Sunday as in years past.
“Everybody we’ve talked to appreciates the Friday/Saturday schedule,” Charlton said. “We’ll get things started Friday and hopefully gain some momentum with people coming off work and coming out before they go home or go to ballgames. And then the vendors are really liking the aspect of not having a Sunday, just for the aspect of having home time with their families. That’s a huge benefit and people are really liking that.”
The Home Show will be open from 3 to 8 p.m. Friday then on Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
New activities added to the schedule just recently include the Aurora softball team offering a root beer stand and bake sale, as well as TEMPO dance teams performing Friday at 6 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m. on stage at the Farr Building.
The Hampton FFA program will also be manning the concessions area, as well as serving the Saturday morning pancake breakfast.
Another key piece of the weekend event is the MCHI Health Fair, which is scheduled for Saturday morning.
“MCHI staff is looking forward to engaging with the community and sharing healthy living options with attendees at the Health Fair on Saturday,” said ReeAnn Regier, MCHI Foundation director.
Charlton noted that recent rains have saturated the parking lot, thus he encourages visitors to take their time coming and going.
“The parking lots are firm,” he reported. “We have nice gravel so if people stay in the grass areas and take it slow and easy the parking lots will hold up as long as we don’t tear things up.”
Charlton said he and Dose will be listening carefully to feedback from vendors and guests to help plan ahead for next year’s show.
“We’re going to listen to the vendors and listen to the public to see what they want, and maybe cut back on the hours a little bit,” he said. “We also want people to know that all the money from this goes back into the products for the fairground buildings, things like tables, chairs, the PA system and that kind of thing.”
For more information, contact Charlton at 402-363-1649 or huskeralan@yahoo.com, or Dose at 402-604-1027, cdose10@gmail.com