The door opened and a big man walked in. He watched and watched. It was like he was stalking us. It was one of our busiest days. We asked him if he wanted anything. He kindly said, “Oh, I’ll wait.”

Little did we know that this big man was Jim Ward, one of the board members at the Pasco County Fair, and he was checking us out to see if we could run the Collura Cottage, up at the local Fairgrounds.

He had tried the phone calling trick. He had called to see if we’d be willing to handle the arts and crafts building (for adults) back last fall. I just ignored it. In fact, when Ken gave me the note with the phone number on it, I simply laughed and said, “Oh no, I don’t have time for that,” and dropped the note on my desk. That was done. Gone. Outta my mind. So I thought. You know the saying, “Just say, NO!”

Then, he stopped in the store some time in December, I think. We listened to him explain what he thought we’d need to do. We chose to ignore it, just saying that it was an interesting idea, and that we’d think about it. However, the store was literally hopping. We had 3 cutting stations going and people were EVERYWHERE. He just grinned and grinned. He wasn’t taking “no.” I personally don’t think he thought there were this many quilters/sewists left in Pasco County and surrounding areas.

Then, he came in again, in January, and this time, I knew we had to have a reason why we couldn’t do it. I looked at the dates for receiving goods and said, “Oh no, we have a conflict. We can’t do it, because we would need to be in 3 places at once. It’s simply not possible.” He countered with, “We’ll change the entry deadlines for you. We can do it whenever you want.”

He was just too agreeable to turn down (desperate, maybe?) So, with that promise we agreed to try to do our best this year. That was on Jan. 10.

Later that day, we went up to the fairgrounds with Jim, the board member who had come in, just to peruse the lay of the land. I was pretty discouraged after that, however, as it seemed like such a mammoth job. The building was filled with a mishmash of furniture. The eclectic look was overwhelming to me, and I was not willing to think too much about it. A huge old-fashioned wagon that horses pull was in the entryway, and I was told to “put the table settings over there.” Table settings? Who does table settings at a fair? I’d entered things in the fair before, but it was always photos or clothes that I’d sewn. In fact, I hadn’t even noticed table settings before at all. I mean, the fair was a month away and I had things that had to be done TODAY…

But we could see potential, and we again agreed, grudgingly, that it would fit well with our business, and that we could give it a shot. Jim arranged to get us our own keys, so we could come and go in there as we needed to.

Two weeks later, Ken and I figured we should get up there and look again, as the time was drawing near. I had failed miserably in putting out advance warnings, and notices and pleadings, due to just how busy we already are at this time of the year.

So, about 1 week before the time for the collection of entries, I started posting in my own personal newsletters. I also got notices out to the local internet groups. However, I didn’t get enough warning far ahead of time, so that people could get things made. This appeal was for people to collect things that they had already made up.

And gather you all did!

The biggest collection day, by far, was Feb. 10, a Thursday, at the store. All afternoon, I received quilts, tablerunners, wallhangings and bags. Raggedy Ann and Andy were the first official entrants who came in that Thursday. It was great. I thought that if I could keep this up, we’d have the place full in no time. That night I put a full van load of goodies into my van and we delivered them to the tables up at the Collura Cottage the next day.

The next day I received entries up at the fairgrounds. I was there, from 9 until 3, and absolutely no one came in after lunch. Thankfully, people did come in the morning, so we did receive about 20 to 30 more items on Friday. However, the following day, Saturday, the 12th, was very discouraging. I had arranged for help from Diane Howton, one of our amazing customers, and friends, who agreed to help. She had only ONE person drop off goodies.

So, by the end of Saturday, after meeting with her, I was pretty worried that we wouldn’t have enough to fill the space. After all, it was an ENTIRE building that we had to fill up.

I did let a few people who had inquired, know that they could drop off to me at the store on Monday. I had originally thought that the judges were coming on Sunday, Feb. 13, in the afternoon, to judge things, but thankfully, they came on Sunday, March 20, to judge things.

What did I know? I was learning daily that I really knew nothing. Nothing at all.

Then Diane offered to help hang things and arrange things. Now it was not that I was trying to get rid of Diane, but rather, I was trying to figure out my own life, and when I would have a free block of time to actually get up there and start the process. I seriously didn’t see any big blocks of time, so I thought, “Well, we’d better get started at least.” So, we did. We went up on Wednesday afternoon, and started arranging things into various rooms, and groupings. Keep in mind that things were going to be judged on Sunday, just 4 days later and the fair opened on Monday. You know the saying, “Ready or not, here we come!” That was what was happening!

That afternoon, Sarah, my daughter, popped around with the grandgirls, to look, and she helped me hang the beast of a quilt that I simply had no idea how to hang without lots of help. She said later, “I only stopped up to take a look,” as she left 2 hours later, hot, sweaty and probably unhappy with me, as she had just simply stopped in to say “hi” and to look at what we were doing.. not do the heavy lifting, pushing, moving and hanging for 2 hours! Diane and I worked for 2 more hours after Sarah left, getting much more done.

But by the end of Saturday night, Feb. 19, I had everything that I could set up and ready for the judges, who would come around 1:30 on Sunday afternoon! I kept finding 1 hour here and 1.5 hours there on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, to finish up!

The pictures shown here are some of what the judges would see……. only you’re seeing them in heaps and on counters. The next post will show you how we spread them out in the spaces you are seeing above.

….to be continued at a later point in time check this blog spot for the second installment…

Thanks, Rachael! We are waiting with baited breath for the next update!

Did you want to go to the fair? It’s NOW - get going! Today - tomorrow!

Here’s a screen shot from their website. Click here for more info from their website.

Be sure to check out what my sis has for you in the store here!

Here’s one of the beauties we have! it just happens to be related to fairs!

“...Exactly HOW did you get rooked into this, Rachael?” Part 1 of a 4 part Fair Series