Information, merchandise, fun at Women's Expo
Hanna Nelson and Maddie Higgins, both of Moses Lake, decorate cupcakes at the Michael's booth at the Columbia Basin Women's Expo Saturday. (The curlers were part of their preparation for some Halloween pictures, they said.)
MOSES LAKE - Booths promoting health and wellness, charitable organizations, services and some that were just for fun filled the floor at the Columbia Basin Women's Expo Saturday.
About 20 businesses and charitable organizations filled the Commercial Building at the Grant County Fairgrounds, selling cookware, scarves, gourmet popcorn and insurance, talking about exercise programs and financial preparation and decorating cupcakes at the Michael's booth.
Inland Cellular sponsored a money booth, where winning contestants got a chance to step inside, catch scrip as it was blown around, and redeem what they grabbed for cold hard cash. Megan Campbell, 11, of Moses Lake, had 1 minute inside the booth with pieces of paper blowing everywhere, and she managed to scoop up $250, by the time all her scrip was redeemed.
"You've got to, kind of like, grab it," Megan said. The best method is to use one arm to hold tight to the papers while reaching with the other hand, she said.
She has long-term plans for her money. "I'm going to save it and then, one day, I'll buy a business," she said. Megan's long, long-term plan is to be the richest woman in the world, but she thinks she'll start with a restaurant, she said.
A steady stream of women (and a few husbands and sons) walked through, looking at merchandise, talking to vendors and picking up information. Vendors said an event like the Expo is a good way to get the word out about their products.
"The biggest thing for us is visibility," said Meg Lybbert, who works at the Silver Sage Design Studio in Moses Lake. After the inaugural event in 2011, "we got a bunch of customers we'd never seen before," she said.
Stephanie Voigt and her family turned a room in their house into a commercial kitchen and launched Cornfusion Gourmet Popcorn earlier this year. They're online but they don't have a storefront, so the visibility they get at events like the Expo is crucial, Voigt said. "That's why we're here."
"It gets our name out there," said Becky Freidig, who brought her Pampered Chef catalog and some merchandise.
Shawanee Compton represented Little Angels, a support group for women and families who've lost a child through miscarriage or stillbirth. The group was founded earlier this year and the Expo was another way of getting the word around, Compton said. Some of the women stopping by had their own stories, she said.
Michelle Garcia and her niece Aaliyah Truman liked what they saw as they wandered around. Garcia said there were lots of interesting ideas, merchandise and information. Aaliyah said she liked the candy handed out at many booths.