Karen’s Training Log

West Orange Street Fair

The gentleman pictured at left is NOT Jeremy, but he could easily be Jeremy’s twin ! He was at the street fair collecting donations for an organization that helps poor children in Mexico. Jane saw him first and asked me “What is Jeremy doing over there with the puppet ?”. I did a double-take, too.

The street fair in West Orange was much better than the one in Springfield. The vendors were not preying on the people strolling along the street. There were more vendors selling “stuff”; across from us was a guy selling marionettes, next to us was a couple selling children’s books and dolls, and on the other side were two people selling time shares.

Alot of people stopped at the table to look at “pink” items we had for sale. We sold a number of pink stuffed animals and pink rubber bracelets.

I sold 10 pairs of earrings. One woman was a repeat customer ! She had bought a pair in Summit and loved them so much she bought another pair today !

Springfield Street Fair

We shared a table with Danna from the Dharmachakra Buddhist Center. The street fair in Springfield was a strange experience. There were about 50-60 vendors. On our left were ladies from Mary Kay cosmetics and to our right was a guy selling cabinet refinishing. Across from us were a group from an Evangelical church who chased people down the street to try and get them to take a brochure. There were 4 gutter capping booths. I was under the impression that people were running a gauntlet, trying to avoid being set upon by aggressive vendors.

Very few people stopped at our table… they were chased away by the Mary Kay ladies. Even Jeremy tried to lure people to our table to no avail. We ended up packing it up by 3:00, despite the fair going until 5:00.