Summer Market Adventure

John and I were surprised at how quickly our booth for the Summer Market came together. We had planned carefully and the planning actually worked out well. We had never done an outdoor show before and we basked in the beautiful warm, sunny day on the edge of lake Erie. There were just the right amounts of little breezes off the calm Lake to cool us down in the warm sun. We watched as booth after booth began to pop up along the bluff.

The show began at 5pm and there was a nice sized crowd and we had a few small sales when all of a sudden there was a huge burst of wind which lasted just a minute. In my experience here in the Eastern part of the US, that little pouf of wind usually means a storm. This time was no different. The wind came up, strong and furious with driving rain, lightning and thunder. The crowd ran and the 55 vendors hung onto their canopies for dear life.

The wind drove the rain all around us. There wasn't an inch of space in our booth that didn't get soaking wet including us. Some canopies held huge amounts of water and suddenly dumped a waterfall on an unsuspecting person underneath. Some canopies were destroyed. Ours held but quite a bit of product was ruined. We won't know how much until it all dries.

Everyone was good natured about it because it was actually pretty awesome to watch and experience. Everyone helped everyone else clean up the disaster.

It was such a disappointment for everyone: the vendors who worked so hard to have product and a pleasing booth, the shoppers who went home empty handed and the organizers who worked really hard to promote and plan the event.

Comments

[Rachel Greig]

What a shame Ginny! I've had booths at quite a few outdoor markets and have had similar experiences, so I can sympathize! Hope there isn't too much damage to your stock.

[Pamela Rowe]

I was worried about you as I watchd the weather report at 5 and the storm was headed right for you. Hope you didn't lose much. Glad you are both OK.