Well, we had some doubt about the show considering it’s move to Wilmington, OH and the change in dates, however, for us at least, things worked out better than expected. I managed to Ace the competition events I entered and our sales were better than any previous show. Granted, attendance was down a bit and there were a number of carvers who failed to show up. But, considering it was the
Labor Day weekend that’s understandable. For us? We ain’t complaining and will be back next year. Rumor has it that the dates will be moved back to November while the show will still be held in Wilmington.
The convention site was great …BIG! And the lighting was really good compared to the old place. We had brought along some lights to brighten up our display but really didn’t need them. With the hotel and a good
restaurant in the same complex you really can’t beat the convenience. And….after routing ourselves through Louisville and Cincinnati we found a better way to get home which was much easier on our frayed nerves from the drive up. We left the hotel at 5am and pulled into our driveway at 4pm.
As for competition, we only competed in two categories: Single figures over 15 inches and the Bust category. The “Buffalo Girl” took 1st and won the overall Caricature Category ribbon…The “Montana Buckaroo” took 2nd. “Touch the Stars” took first in Busts followed up by “Friend and Foe” for 2nd. “The Breed” pulled in a large amount for the Clubs charity. To top it off all those figures left the reservation to new homes.
So in sum, we had a great trip, hooked up with a lot of old friends, and managed to come back home with only half of what we left with.
