COARSEGOLD — Rain or shine, the annual Peddlers’ Fair is a Memorial Day weekend tradition that draws hundreds to the Coarsegold Historic Village to shop, eat and browse an eclectic selection of antiques, collectibles and one-of-a-kind treasures.
This year, the weather clearly played a starring role at the Coarsegold Antique & Collectibles Show.
Rain late last week — and predictions of more to come — forced organizers to hastily rearrange plans for parking and exhibit space, event organizer Diane Boland said. “We are having to shift some things around because of the mud — but the show will go on.”
Boland said more than 100 vendors reserved space at this year’s event, which ran from “dawn til dusk” Friday through Monday and features antiques and collectibles as well as arts, crafts and handmade products.
Sun and Pak Lee from Seoul, Korea, were visiting the area — and the United States– for the first time.
“We are going to see Yosemite and decided to stop,” Sun said. “It looks so interesting. Korean people like old things.”
First-time exhibitor Kathy Bagley and her husband came from Hayfork, north of Redding, to sell their personal collection of collectibles.
“I don’t have a store like some of the other vendors. We just pulled all of this stuff out of our storage shed,” she said.
Just before noon Monday, as the skies once again darkened, Bagley was debating whether or not to pull a tarp over her table full of items.
“It was a long drive just to stand around in weather like this and have to keep covering and uncovering our stuff,” she said.
Tayley Poffenberger gets a paint job from her mother Trisha Poffenberger
Tayley Poffenberger spent part of her Memorial Day getting a unicorn painted on her forehead. Her mother, Trisha Poffenberger, who runs Craft-Lab Creations and Face Painting, was operating a face-painting booth at the show.
Jacob Woods, a candle vendor from Fresno, spent part of his Memorial Day swapping trade secrets with Sherry Plair, who came from Los Banos with her mother Ray Ray to sell their all-natural soaps and body scrubs — which are branded Ray Ray’s Naturals.
“We had a fantastic day Saturday,” Sherry said. “But we didn’t come out yesterday because it was pouring rain. Today is cool but thankfully, dry. So far, we’ve been doing real well.”
Sherry Plair visits with fellow vendor Jacob Woods at this year’s Coarsegold Peddlers’ Antique & Collectibles Show.
Harry Bedrosian, the owner of Harry’s Kitchen, had his mobile food vending booth set up near the entrance to the show. Bedrosian is from Fresno and has sold funnel cakes, corn dogs and other “carnival food” at the event for nine years.
“Business on Saturday was fantastic, just great,” he said as he was setting up to open Monday morning. “If it wasn’t for the rain, I’d a probably done real well yesterday too.”
“The problem the last few years with this show has been the elements,” Bedrosian added. “If it’s not smoke from forest fires, it’s the weather. Until recently, we didn’t have to deal with any of that stuff. It’d be sunny, warm and dry all weekend long.”
Whether you’re someone who arrived when the weather was great, or you missed it this time because of rain, or you braved the elements for a chance to find that perfect I’ll-know-it-when-I-see-it thing — it’s all about the hunt, and there’s always next year.
