Yellow Pages
SEDRO-WOOLLEY — It was lunch hour at the food and craft vendors’ area at Loggerodeo, on a parking lot just south of State Street. A few people walked through, but most of them paid no attention to the gyros, tacos and popcorn available for sale.
Despite the lack of traffic Saturday, the crafts vendors hung in there, hoping to drum up maybe one more sale before calling it quits.
“It’s kinda slow,” said Tammy Kaullen of Burlington, who was at her second-ever crafts show. She makes and sells custom-covered photo albums.
“My goal was to make enough to cover the space and get my name out there,” Kaullen said.
On Saturday afternoon, she needed to sell one more $40 photo album to break even.
Vendors agreed that business during the three-day show was best on the Fourth. The day before and Saturday were duds by comparison, they said.
“The first day (July 3), it rained all day. Basically, nobody really showed up,” said Randy Turner, owner of Emmrod Northwest, a Mount Vernon company that sells compact fishing rods.
Nearby, Jenny Barron of Sedro-Woolley was offering free chiropractic health screenings.
“I think there were four people who walked by all day” on July 3, she said.
By Saturday, Barron was starting to think the crafts show was one day too long.
“I think people are done celebrating, so I think nobody’s out,” she said. “Everybody partied too hard last night.”
The weather and a spate of hangovers weren’t the only factors, Turner said. His distinctive fishing poles, with reels, cost between $70 and $110.
“I do personally believe the economy has had an impact on discretionary income,” he said.
Wood carver Bruce Thorsteinson of Kent agreed. He said artists are hit especially hard when the economy falters.
“People can only have money for food, gas and rent. They don’t have enough money for art. It’s just one of those things that happen,” said Thorsteinson, who says he’s better known as “Thor.”
“Last year, I sold my main piece and bought a ticket to England. This year, I’ll be lucky to auction it off and get anything,” Thorsteinson said.
Not all the reports from the vendors’ area were gloom-and-doom. Michelle Odegard of Clear Lake, who was selling hemp jewelry, said she did better business this year than last year. Just about all of her business came on Friday, she said.
The atmosphere in her corner of the parking lot helped make the day a success, Odegard said.
“It just turned out to be one big family in this area right here,” she said.
The carnival at the north end of town was open for eight days, through July 4, but saw little traffic until Wednesday, manager Kevin Wolfe said.
July 2 was family night, and people could purchase a bracelet for unlimited rides.
“Everybody waited until then. It was probably one of the bigger family nights we’ve had here, and I think that’s just because of the economy” said Wolfe, who has been involved with the carnival at Loggerodeo for the last 23 years.
Loggerodeo President Jeanne McLennan said attendance at events was hit and miss. People mostly stayed away from the Joel Brantley concert on a rainy Thursday evening, McLennan said, but she estimated that as many as 10,000 showed up to see the parade on July 4.
“All in all, I am very pleased with the way the events have gone,” McLennan said.
Event organizers will take a month off, then start planning next year’s 75th annual Loggerodeo, McLennan said.
“We have a lot of secrets in the works for next year,” she said, including a major international event that she’s unwilling to reveal for now.
“We just need a venue,” she said. “We’re thinking it’s going to be quite huge.”
* Ralph Schwartz can be reached at 360-416-2138 or .
