Los Banos - Mother's Day Arts and Crafts Fair

Mother's Day Arts and Crafts Fair. Here's a nice event for that weekend held in Los Banos.

LOS BANOS TIGER SHARKS ANNUAL "It's a Beautiful Day in the Park"
Saturday and Sunday, May 9-10, 2009 9:00AM-5:00PM
Booth fee $75 for 15x15 space (approximate) flyer application

VENDORS: Boycott Auburn Events

From what I understand there were a number of vendors who sent in their payments for the Oakhurst Home and Garden (formerly Mountain Peddler's Fair in May. On the applications, it stated that this event was to be held over Memorial Day Weekend and people made their payments. However, the dates were changed to the week before and some people might be very surprised, especially when they show up on Memorial Weekend and there is no show. This was a very bad move on their part. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. But this show was broken many years ago when they moved it out of the parking lot at the shopping center.

I know a vendor who had sent in payment for a Home and Garden show in Auburn that same weekend, but later he was surprised to find out that he now had two shows scheduled for the same weekend. He called the promoters at the Fairgrounds there and explained to them what had happened. They were bastards about it and refused to refund the money AND they refused to credit him that $300 for a show later in the year there. I myself have had bad experiences with these people and I am calling for a boycott of events at the Fairgrounds in Auburn until they do what is right. This could happen to you. Please do not participate in events there.

Macy's to cut 7,000 jobs

IS MACY'S NEXT TO GO?

NEW YORK – Macy's Inc. announced Monday that it will eliminate 7,000 jobs, almost 4 percent of its work force, and cut capital spending, reduce its contributions to its employees' retirement funds and slash its dividend to preserve cash amid a severe pullback in consumer spending.

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Oakhurst Mountain Peddler's Fair - May 16-17

CHANGE OF DATES:
I was considering doing the Oakhurst event over Memorial Day, but just found out that the dates for the Oakhurst Mountain Peddler's Fair have been changed to the weekend before, May 16-17. Also, they have changed the name of the event to the Oakhurst Home and Garden Show. The new dates, I am sure, will come as a surprise to a lot of vendors who have done this event for years.

If you really want to change it for the good, move it back to the shopping area where it was located several years ago WHERE PEOPLE CAN SEE IT. The current location is not good and nobody can see it from the Highway, which is a MAJOR route into Yosemite. It would be nice if some of these passers-by could see canopies, etc., and mozy on ovah!!!

Your Daily Dose from StarvingVendors.com

An older couple came into the booth each holding a little pooch in their arms. The lady asked me 'are those doggie chairs?' pointing to the small one-foot tall stools I had outside. "Huh?" was my response as I looked over at her. She repeated her question and I said to her "Uhhhh... no I don't think so."

Doggie chairs? I think that some people spend way too much time with their dogs. Hey Joe, ya want to go to the ball game today? Nah, gotta stay home with the dog. They don't let dogs in there. Louise, want to go to the Craft Show? Yah, okay. I can bring our dog and get him some new shoes and a cute little hat.

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Michelle Obama

Was watching Entertainment Tonight on the tube. The lady said that Michelle Obama is 6 tall in leotards. So, how tall is she without leotards?

Blythe

In my travels to Blythe yesterday, I passed by Love’s here in Tyson and saw gas prices had risen to $1.85, up six cents since a week ago. Now, get this one..... gas was going for $2.24 in Blythe at several filling stations. It’s going up and up and up. Just checked prices at COSTCO in San Leandro and saw that it’s up to $1.97. Obama, Obama, Obama.

Going to be a bit chilly this morning in Tyson. Mercury going down to 37 degrees this morning. At least it's not 37 BELOW like some places. Been pretty cold in East Baraka. Single digits all over the place and people are freezing their macadamians off.

Thirty-seven degrees is the coldest it has gotten since we have been here. Going to be a bit on the windy side also. There were a number of people who had difficulties bringing down their canopies yesterday and I understand that a couple of them put on quite a spectacle, from what I was told. I heard that the wind really picked up pretty well yesterday afternoon. Wish somebody would have YouTubed it. Sorry I missed it....we were in Blythe. Blythe. Good ol’ Blythe.

Click here to read more or you can read our daily log about the Tyson Wells Sell a Rama.

Tyson Wells

The Tyson Wells Sell-a-Rama has just finished and we are between shows, expecting to set up for the Arts & Crafts Show tomorrow. The weather here has been great with temps in the 70's and only one day of showers. The wind picked up yesterday and that is a problem on occasion. This morning seems to be a bit cooler and temps are expected to be in the low 60's for a couple days.

We took down our things yesterday and will load them up this morning. We pulled our motor home over next to our space to block the wind and spent the night here. Quite noisy and a lot different than camping out in the BLM, where it is almost totally quiet. Over here, you can hear the cars on I10 passing by and there were people tearing down their booths late last night. Also, some people like to play their music (or whatever you want to call it) loudly at midnight.

Sales were down here for many of the vendors and you can pretty much blame the economy. They had the Innaugaration on Tuesday and my sales got worse each day after. What's to come!
I heard that sales have been down all over this place...Quartzsite, Yuma, etc. People not impulse buying or just not spending very much, holding on to their bucks. Mostly buying the $1-5 gadgets and gizmos.

Please read my daily log on my website called Starving Vendors where I tell about each day we had here in Tyson Wells.

We will be in Space PQ4 for the next three weeks, so come on down and check us out.

Tyson Wells

We are still at the Tyson Wells Sell a Rama. Be sure to check our Daily log:

http://www.starvingvendors.com/events_Tyson_Wells_Sellarama_2009.html

Updates

Haven’t been able to update over the past week. We have been at the Tyson Wells Sell-a-Rama since last Tuesday and internet connections have been few and far between for me.
The weather has been perfect here with temps around 74 degrees each day and sunny. Last year, it was cold during the first several days and quite windy. What a difference. Hope we can escape the rain. I understand that the East has been under a big freeze since last week and have had some snow.

Tyson Wells Sales-a-Rama is a gigantic event where vendors come in from all over the place and sell their goods. Part of it is consumed by rock and mineral vendors while the other 2/3 of the vendors sell anything and everything imagineable. There really are not too many other shows to choose from this time of year and if you have a motor home, then it’s like a mini-vacation AND if you are older, you really appreciate the warmer temperatures. People have been selling here for years and we have been here for 6 years ourselves, finding our ‘permanent’ spot here in X-19. We have a nice neighborhood of vendors in this area as many of us have known each other from other California shows.

RV’ers from all over the country congregate here every winter and park their motor homes in the same areas each year, mostly in the BLM lands just south of Tyson. However, there are thousands upon thousands of RV’s parked in the area for the winter.

I will be giving updates here every 2-4 days, whenever possible. We are returning on Feb 16 and once again, we will be covering a vast array of topics after that

Arizona Events - Yuma and Tyson Wells

INFO ON ARIZONA EVENTS - Yuma and Tyson Wells.

Nice weather here in Hayward with temps around 70. In Quartzsite, sunny with temps 70/40 for the next 10 days (hopefully). A bit breezy today. In Yuma, nice and sunny with temps approaching 75 degrees throughout the week. Reports from the Old Town Jubilee there show that some vendors are down by as much as 75 percent. Very rough, especially for those that travel and have to stay in motels. I might add that all the new construction in that area has been detrimental to vendors at shows there. Improved shopping areas for visitors and the area provides more things for people to do. Sure an improved downtown area would attract more visitors, but I think that the events are of little concern to them.

Would like to let people know that we (DandL CREATIONS) will not be in Kernville (Whiskey Flats Days) this time nor will we be in Lake Havasu for the Winterfest since we have an 'extended stay' in Tyson Wells this time. Whiskey Flats is a nice show for the month of February as the weather is decent. despite at least a day of rain or snow for the past 4-5 years at this event. Nice parade, shootouts and is enjoyable. It's a hell of a ride getting there, driving along the Kern River Valley since it has many winding, harrowing turns, making it difficult for motor homes or vehicles towing cargo trailers, etc. Not recommended to drive at night. It's quite scenic, nonetheless.

We will be at the Tyson Wells Sell-a-Rama beginning on Tuesday, located in Space X-19 until Jan 26. We will them be over in space PQ-3 on Jan 29 for the A&C show. The event runs until the 8th of February, but we will be there until Feb 15. Hope to see you there. If you mention this blog, I'll take 10 percent off your purchase.

For more info on shows, festivals, etc. check Events and Festivals. I have a website called Starving Vendors that has many reviews of shows we have done in past years and you will most likely find them very informative. Lots of information, etc.

Bay Area Thrift Stores

San Leandro. Thrift Town 16160 East 14th St. San Leandro, CA I absolutely loved this thrift store. It was huge, well organized, and packed full of fabulous items. I had a hard time finding much clothes that I liked or that were not outrageously priced. I did find some great slips here, so it could have just been an off day for the clothes I looked at. They had a wonderful selection of books, household items, vintage shoes, and luggage. I definitely, definitely am going back next time I make my rounds up North!

Berkeley Goodwill 2058 University Avenue, Berkeley, CA This is a nice big store. Unfortunately we were on our way to lunch and I only had a chance to look through a small portion of their clothes. The prices are about the same as most shops in the area, and though I didn’t find anything spectacular, I think it could have just been an off day. I will probably go back if I happen to be in that area again.

Oakland Clausen House Thrift 4834 Telegraph Ave Oakland, CA I went to this thrift store a while back with my mom and had some pretty good luck finding good items. This time around, the whole store looked different, and while more organized, I didn’t see a single thing in this tiny store that so much as caught my eye. I would only go back if I were walking by and needing to kill a few minutes.

Saint Vincent de Paul Outlet Store 9235 San Leandro St. Oakland, CA This was a funny store, and one that would be incredibly easy to miss. I’m not sure how my mom found it, seeing that the outlet is in back of another store, which you have to walk through to get to. They had a fair selection of clothes, were very well organized, and not too overpriced. There was a huge selection of furniture, and only one other shopper in the store, which was kind of strange, but we had lots of room to look!

I have composed a listing of Thrift Stores in the Bay Area.... Oakland, San Leandro, El Ceritto, San Francisco, etc. Go here to see our Bay Area Thrift Store guide.