It was a much earlier start to the day than we are accustomed to. We left the house at 6:30 am. This is hours before we normally get out of bed. The expo started at 9 am and it was more than an hour drive to Ronan. Very little traffic was on the road as most sensible people were snuggled in their warm beds. It was dark out until we got to Polson, Montana, 11 miles from Ronan. Then it was grey from an overcast sky.
The expo room wasn't too big. There were probably a little over two dozen tables/vendors in the room. Several Republican candidates for state offices had tables. A bank had a table. An insurance agent. A cable TV company. Several agriculture-related businesess. A half dozen home-based direct-selling businesses like Tammy's Tastefully Simple business.
We were set up and ready a short time before 9 am.
Next to Tammy's table was Tammy's friend, Eva's, table. Eva sells Tupperware. Eva had a very good day as she had several big sales. Otherwise it was slow sales wise for most people. Tammy sold some things, but not enough to cover the expo fee. The expo had a decent attendance for a small town and a number of women took catalogs and expressed interest, so it may be a case where the sales come later via the internet once the people look the catalog over.
On the other side of Tammy's table was one of the two irrigation sellers at the expo. Before the expo started I chatted with one of the guys about irrigation pumps, one of which I have. The pump has not been used since dad quit using it. I am interested in re-starting irrigating the property but would want to know if it was possible to use the old pump. Nothing definitive can be determined without seeing the pump, but it seems possible to do.
I also talked with an older couple who had a disabled son or grandson along with them. They were selling vitamins that causes people or animals to stimulate their adult stem cells to allow them to heal quicker. They had three gruesome before-and-after photos showing the claim of how well the pills work. I am leery of pills that could work on either horses or humans, depending how much you like the taste of alfalfa. He seemed sincere but the pills seemed like snake oil to me.
The expo left a side door open all day even though the outside temperature was in the mid 20s under a cloudy sky. The reason the door was open was so people would go visit the livestock stuff outside. For us inside it made it a cold day. The room had four or five heat lamps as pictured below. But it didn't make the room warm. Tammy hugged her cup of hot chocolate and ended the day with cold feet. Most people kept their coats on.
Tammy bought a raffle ticket to win an iPad2. She didn't win.
The expo went from 9 am to 3 pm. Shortly before 3 pm most vendors were taking their booths down and packing up. Close to 3 pm we did the same. Tammy has a fast routine and we were on the road by 3:30 pm.
We drove home on the highway on the east side of Flathead Lake as Tammy had never been south of Bigfork on this road. This area is where most of the Flathead cherry orchards are located.
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