Gone Done and Ate Up All My Profits

Yesterday I decided, oh-so-last-minute (this is something you should know about me), to sell my wares at the 55th Annual Kooskia Days instead of at the Farmers Market at Long Camp. Thinking higher traffic/exposure...

I called the woman in charge (Molly) yesterday afternoon to ask about getting a vendor space. She said she'd let me have one for half price ($20) since I didn't need electricity (and I sounded like a poor pitiful novice, too, I'm sure). She told me everyone would start setting up around 7 a.m. So, when we got a late start and didn't get to Kooskia (only 8 miles away) until about 7:30, I was worried. But Molly was nowhere to be found! And I didn't know where to set up my table. So we wandered around. One of our favorite pasttimes, wandering around.

Kooskia has a lot of character.
I need to go back for a photo safari.

Then we decided to get caffeinated. So we drove to Stites (pop. <250) to The Chatterbox.

But it was closed. Dammit, don't you people want my business on a Saturday morning?!

So we went back to Kooskia and I had a which was good (and delicious!) because I saw my friend Heidi working at the Sunset Mart. She's moved back to the area and she invited us to her wedding at The Branding Iron Saloon on August 9th! Par-tay!

So then we walked around Kooskia for a while more until we found Molly, prolly around 8:30 .

I ended up getting a spot between a saloon and a cafe.

And it was in the shade! Which was good because it was HOT.

Keith polished up a piece of angle iron from
my dad's scrap pile to use as a magnet display.
I also had a sign-up sheet for forming
a bartering network. No takers. So far.

the cards I had for sale

So I only sold 1 card and half a dozen magnets (not enough to cover my $20 vendor space fee), but I had a LOT of compliments and "interested persons," which was very encouraging. Seriously. Good advertising. Now I feel a little more confident about setting up a table at the Farmers Market, perhaps next weekend?

I also had a good view of the parade


and Keith even brough Lazlo for a while. He was a very very good dog. As per usual.

But by the time 1:30p.m. rolled around I was hungry and cranky and so we packed it up and went home. But we stopped for lunch at Jilinda's on the way home and I filled my belly with a grilled cheese and fries and spent any revenue I'd generated. Not so good at this business accounting. Oh well, it's not all about profit, right? I have to build my customer base.

I'm excited to go back to work next week which is WEIRD and kinda crazy. I haven't felt that way since I worked at The Poverello. I really miss that place sometimes, the community, the people. Checking out their latest newsletter, I saw quite a few faces I remembered. Time to get a card in the mail, I guess! One of the many I didn't sell---it's good to keep in touch with the people who really matter. And people I met and worked with at The Poverello were some of the most inspiring, caring, intelligent people I ever met. Homelessness is a real problem and although it might be easiest to blame the individuals for their situation, once you actually get to know people who are struggling on a daily basis and you realize that anyone of us could be in that situation in a heartbeat... well, it changes your outlook. And that's a good thing. I think about the people at "The Pov" pretty often and I will definitely make a point of going back to visit when we go to Missoula.