Market offers alternative to malls
Handmade items attract hordes to holiday gift show MICHAEL ROSE
Statesman Journal December 12, 2004 Rhonda and Holly Wymore were packing shopping bags filled with fragrant soaps and homemade tortillas. Cooper, their Chihuahua, came along for the ride and didn't seem to mind the hustle and bustle in the Jackman-Long Building. They were among the crowd at the Holiday Market and Gift Show on Saturday. The event at the Oregon State Fairgrounds, which continues today, attracted people looking for items with a handmade touch. It was a chance to do a little Christmas shopping and get out of the shopping mall routine. "We've really just bought stuff for ourselves so far," said Rhonda Wymore, a Keizer resident. Holly Wymore hinted that she may have picked up a gift or two when Rhonda wasn't looking. The Holiday Market is run by same nonprofit that runs the Salem Saturday Market and the Wednesday farmer's market. Event organizers didn't have an estimate on the size of the crowd, but the Jackman-Long Building was packed with people. Booths were filled with handmade products: jewelry, baskets, wooden toys, pottery, fleece hats, fishing flies, bells and gongs and food products, to name a few. "It's one of the best bazaars around," said Deedee Hess of Mehama. She prefers locally handcrafted items for Christmas gifts and avoids mass-produced, imported products sold at chain stores. The market had 175 vendors this year, up from 124 a year ago. They each paid $100 to $175 to rent a booth. Vendors on Saturday said their sales were steady. "The foot traffic has been wonderful," said vendor Jessica Griffin of Salem, who was selling baked goods. "A lot of folks are stopping by and checking me out." Griffin also used the market to promote Cakewalk Specialty Baking, her home-based business that makes sweets such as wedding cakes. Over at the Laughing Dragon Enchanted Carvings booth, Mike Reifel was cutting away at a block of wood. The Silverton resident makes a living selling decorative items with a dragon motif, including a charm that appears to be a tiny dragon emerging from an egg. "They're easy to care for at that age," Reifel quipped. Marvin Lingel said sales of his hand-forged, wrought iron products, such as candle holders and fireplace tools, were up a bit from last year. The most popular item made by his Canby company, Mountain Stream Forge, are dinner triangles that sell for $20 to $36. Tom and Judie Jamison were pushing dill pickles. The Woodburn couple said the Holiday Market is a good way to spread the word about their start-up business, Baumgardner Pickling Co. Holiday Market shoppers were snapping up the pickles, which sell for $6 a jar. "People are looking for something different," said Tom Jamison. "They try them, they buy them." mrose@StatesmanJournal.com This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it or (503) 399-6657 |
