Sanders County Trade Fair coming to Plains

It gets bigger every year, said Sherry McCartney about the annual Sanders County Trade Fair, scheduled for Saturday, March 29, at Plains High School.

The Sanders County Trade Fair, sponsored by the Plains-Paradise Chamber of Commerce, will host nearly 80 vendors, including 20 nonprofit organizations, said McCartney, the secretary/treasurer for the chamber of commerce. The big news this year, said McCartney, is that for the first time the event will be free.

McCartney said Rocky Mountain Bank and First Security Bank contributed $500 to cover the admission free, which is usually $1 per person. The Trade Fair, which is in its 13th year, will once again be held in the high school gymnasium, but McCartney said they'll have the nonprofit vendors in the gym lobby and extend down the hallway to the school library. Three vendors - DST Rentals, TNT Power Products and Horseshoe Grove Nursery - are slated to set up outside the building.

Though many of the vendors have been at the Trade Fair before, McCartney said there will be several new ones, and will includes companies from Plains, Paradise, Trout Creek, Noxon, Niarada, as well as 19 from outside Sanders County - Columbia Falls, Bigfork, and Missoula.

Merchandise and services this year range from computers to jewelry to plants to log home companies.

The Plains-Paradise Chamber of Commerce will also have a booth. Nonprofit groups will include Citizens Against Drug and Alcohol Abuse, the Sanders County Arts Council, Take Off Pounds Sensibly.

The mission of the chamber of commerce is to promote local businesses and show people what the communities can offer. It's a way to expose businesses to the public. “The Trade Fair is put on to make everybody aware of what's available to them as for as products, programs, and resource in their communities,” said McCartney, who added that she's looking forward to this year's event. The money raised by the chamber for the Trade Fair goes back into promoting businesses in the community, said McCartney.

The Trade Show was started by Randy Garrison, who owns the Printery in Plains, and the late Earl Cockrell, who started the Peregrine Embroidery, also in Plains.

McCartney said the Plains-Paradise Chamber of Commerce has grown significantly over the years, boasting of 93 members, mostly Plains residents. Its president is Nick Lawyer, who was voted into office in January. Kathy Logan is the group's vice president.

The Trade Show is one of the biggest annual events for the chamber and draws hundreds of people.

She said they've been very successful in the past. Each booth space is approximately seven feet long by about 11 feet wide. Some vendors pay for two spaces. McCartney said that people can set up their booths from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. Saturday.

Anyone with questions can call Sherry McCartney at 826-3447.