Snow falls on the spring fair

MOSES LAKE - The 2008 Spring/Fair Home Show had a good deal of winter weather over the weekend, keeping some people home and making it difficult for some vendors to make sales.

Vendor Scott Briscoe came from Hauser, Idaho and had a booth where he sold magnetic therapy jewelry and popcorn shirts, which are elastic shirts.

Briscoe said the weather wasn't bad on Saturday, and more people were coming through the commercial building, but Sunday was going poorly as snow fell on Grant County.

"People want to be comfortable," he said.

Vance Gambriel from Ephrata, was selling flooring at the fair and said he made two contacts for making estimates on Friday, the first of the fair's snow days, but had much more success on Saturday.

"When the sun was out the crowds turned (it around)," Gambriel said.

He said good sales and good weather were "amazingly synonymous."

Gambriel said he thought it would be good to have the show a little later, but also heard the last time it snowed during the spring fair was around 1995.

Wayne Hilton stood at his booth with a variety of shears in front of him, which he used to demonstrate their effectiveness on some branches in front of potential customers.

"This weather is kicking us pretty bad and it's not been kind," he said.

He said the drop in numbers created an effect felt by the vendors, who noticed the lack of foot traffic.

"You can always equate sales with numbers," he said.

Jimmy Violette manned a booth where he represented a siding company and said the weather was a disappointment, but nothing could be done.

"I don't think there's much to be done about weather," he said. "All in all, the home show is done well. They put on a beautiful show here and they are very friendly."