The 18th annual Trade Fair dubbed successful
<p>The Plains High School gym was filled with vendors on Saturday as the Plains-Paradise Chamber of Commerce hosted their 18th annual Trade Fair.</p>
PLAINS – The Plains-Paradise Chamber of Commerce hosted their 18th annual Trade Fair on Saturday, opening the doors of the Plains High School gymnasium to businesses from throughout Sanders County and beyond.
According to one of the head organizers, Carol Day, vendors came from Polson, Trout Creek, Thompson Falls, Plains and Paradise.
Between 250 and 300 attendees flooded the gym scouring information on the businesses present, winning raffles and door prizes as the trade fair stretched into the day.
The fair began at 10 a.m. and ended at 3 p.m.
“We think it went really well, especially with it being Easter,” said Day. “We had a bigger variety of vendors this year with nine new vendors.”
The trade fair was bigger than last year, opening up the door to a few more vendors than the previous year.
Day explained the trade fair is a good opportunity to expose your business to Sanders County, helping to reach clients and customers who may have not previously known about businesses.
“With the vendors coming from several areas in Sanders County, the Chamber feels we have achieved one of our goals to help expose businesses to new markets,” stated Day in an e-mail.
Door prizes at the event included two ten gallon propane tanks as well as another gift of 100 gallons of propane from AxMen Propane, a basketball hoop raffled off by the Wildhorse Sports Association and a water bottle, baseball cap and rafting trip for six people from Camp Bighorn.
Among the many vendors, the Plains Lion Club was at the trade fair offering free eye exams using the Plus Optics vision screening system, which was loaned to them by the South Side Lions Club of Missoula.
The Lions Club plans to be at the Plains schools on Monday, April 8 and Tuesday, April 9 offering free eye exams to the kids.
The Lions Club hopes to do this at all the schools within Sanders County.
The Low Income Energy Assistance Program was also at the trade fair offering a helping hand to those who struggle heating their homes during the winter months. LIEAP offers assistance, which may be available for a portion of one’s primary heating costs that were incurred from October 1 to April 30 of each program year. An information booth was set up with all the information one would need to gain access to the help available.
Along with that, Tobacco Control and Prevention Specialist Jan Parmelee, advocated against the harms of using tobacco, displaying a jar of tar, showcasing to those how smoking a pack a day for a year will effect your lungs.
Day saw the trade fair as successful stating the chamber is happy with the outcome.
“We made a profit and gathered good information for next year,” said Day.