A Fun Weekend: Portland Strawberry Festival, Momoo's 90th birthday and Grilling out!

What a long, exhausting, fun weekend!

Saturday began with an early rise at 5:30 and a quick drive to Franklin where I met with Janice. We loaded my gear into her Durango and travelled the stretch to Portland, TN for the annual Strawberry Festival. Hope weren't too high as the clouds rolled in over our heads. It should have been a sign! In face, there were signs all morning of what was to come.

As we rolled into the vndor area, they didn't have our name on the list. Whoops! I assured them the check I sent had been cashed. I printed a copy of the cleared check for just this reason. They then motioned us over to an out of the way parking lot away from all the other vendors. Was this treatment a "paying of our dues" as we were first-time vendors to this festival? I thought it quite interesting that the gentleman who motioned us to our assiged spot in the lot, yelled out to us, "feet count" and we pulled the Durango into place. As if we would take more than we had paid...

Was is so ironic about that statement the young man made, was over 1/3 of the vendors never even made the trip to Portland to attempt the venue. Te forcast perhaps was a bit too ominous for them. So there we were, with easily 10 feet in between us and the next vendor, in an out-of-the-way parking lot. Regardless, we were excited because the oppotunity to participate in an event like this is always a blast.

As normal, Janice and I fell in line with our routine. Its become a science of sorts. She unloads this, while I set up that. We make a good team! The tent, a wonderful beautiful thing to have, went up first, and soon the tables, cloths, and jewelry followed. Still all the while, dark charcoal clouds floated quickly overhead. And then it happened, the bottom litterally fell out of the clouds. They couldn't hold it in any longer. It drenched every poor vendor that hadn't invested in a tent within seconds. People scrambled for the nearest cover. Within a few minutes downpour #1 ceased.

We assessed the damage and luckily only had a few damp tags on our jewlery. We faired quite well. Janice mentioned we had one side to the tent stored in the carry bag. While we had the chance we grabbed it and velcroed it to the tent. At least one side of the tent would be protected from the rain!

Then the glorious sun came out, for at least 2 hours anyway! It felt great. The festival started to liven up, live music was playing off in the distance, and Janice managed to find a stand with some fresh squeezed lemonade. It brought to mind the saying, "when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade!" It was very fitting!

The All that Glitters and Jewelry by Janice booth at the Portland Strawberry Festival 2009

We had a little traffic, nothing to jump and and down about, but we had a few stragglers stop in. All the while we caught the aroma of BBQ ribs, funnels cakes, and strawberry delights in the breeze. I think we were more excited about the food, than the prospect of selling jewlery at that moment.

Clouds began rolling in again. Sprinkles fell, and round two commenced. Ladies with quarts of strawberries huddled under the shelter of our tent. We hadn't seen so much action at our booth all day! Surprisingly we had a few sales.

The organizer of the event stopped by our tent a little later, and inquired about our traffic flow. Here was my chance to speak up. I tried to let him know as nicely as possible that by palcing us in a remote location, it really hurt our chances of having a successful day. He apologized and let us know over 1/3 of the vendors that paid to set up hadn't even attempted to come. That combined with the bad weather, really hurt us. It meant so much that he actually cared to come by and acknowledge this fact though. If we have any reason to return next year, it will be because this man took the time to speak to his vendors and get feedback.

We made out booth rent back, plus a little to cover gas and food. Will we return next year, only time will tell...

Janice set up at the festival!

Sunday, came quick! It was my Grandmother Noel's (Momoo as I've called her since I could speak) 90th Birthday. She didn't want a fuss, but we Noel's can't pass up an opportunity to get togather and eat! My Aunt Shelia made my favortie pink cherry salad, and we had the famous "Roy's BBQ" for lunch! I grabbed a quick shot of Momoo with her birthday cake.

Then it was a quick trip back to Bowling Green. Debi was having a grill out and had invited over Clint's Aunt and Uncle. Clint, the master griller of the bunch, took over the spatual and tongs and got to work as soon as we arrived.

To sum it all up! Too much food and rain this weekend! I'm exhausted.