THE HOLIDAY MARKET AT ROSEMARY BEACH

The Saturday after Thanksgiving is always a date to which the GLIDER FAMILY looks forward. It is the HOLIDAY MARKET at Rosemary Beach, Florida. Many of the Condo owners are there enjoying the holidays and it kicks of the Christmas season in the community.
There are the traditional things like Breakfast with Santa, the lighting of the Christmas Tree (and not a wimp-ass "Holiday Tree"!), and most of all for me, the HOLIDAY MARKET.
The people are in a festive mood and always a happy mood. Who wouldn't be; on the beach-and not just any beach-the EMERALD COAST, Thanksgiving holiday, and a first class festival right outside your door?!
This year was very different from the past. Janice will no longer be able to travel with me, except in my heart, so a dream come true happens. Our youngest son, Clay, asks if I would let him do the show in my place, as I had already paid and also had an order to deliver there.
He as helped me on other shows in the area, the SEASIDE COMMUNITY YARD SALE, held twice a year, being the main ones.
And man is he good at it, if I do say so myself! And another bonus for Janice and I, he took his oldest son, Craig, with him. That made us twice as proud of Clay, for going solo for the first time, AND, taking his 10 year old son to spend time with. I am not sure I could have pulled it off with the level of expertise that he did.
Janice and I hope this is the beginning of "passing the torch"to one of our children. We have sat and talked about this for hours. For your child to want to follow in your footsteps is a most moving personal moment.
We have built-up a business of many repeat customers. It is not uncommon for someone to say, "I bought from you at the festival in Atlanta last month, for example. And the fact that they were happy and want to buy again says a lot to our personal values. To me, those comments are just as important as the actual sales. You can make money lots of ways, but you can only get customer loyalty one way-EARN IT!
Now I am looking forward to Clay returning from a show and say, "I had some customers ask about you, or Someone ask if I was the son of the guy that used to do this show". Ah, now that would be music!
larrycook351@gmail.com
706-302-8902

FLUTTERBY FESTIVAL & FALL and WINTER MARKET at WATERCOLOR---FABULOUS!!!

Here we are at Watercolor, Florida for another wonderful festival. ARNOLD, THE PIG can be seen helping Linda and Mitch Shannon of http://www.cottagecollages.com/ and myself set up.We always try to get ajoining spaces to help each other load and unload, but more importantly, to blend our merchandise to have the most interesting display of the whole show.

The FLUTTERBY FESTIVAL is a children's festival to celebrate the annual migration of the monarch butterfly as it passes through on it way to winter in central Mexico.

Watercolor is known for its ability to produce a very good festival, with entertainment and food that is unbeatable along 30-A. This is all made possible by the hard work of Hillary Fosdyck and Briane Workman of http://www.monarkevents.com/. These two women are masters at what they do. Give them a call if you having an event in the area and want it to

be the most memorable possible.

Linda is in her "mirror" phase as an artist. She had at least 10 mirrors on display and no two are ever alike, as they all are custom made one at a time from reclaimed items.

NOTE the one with piano keys!

If you ever get tired of the "boxed" motel/hotel experience, come to WATERCOLOR, FLORIDA. You will never go anywhere else.

larrycook351@gmail.com

706-302-8902

"ARNOLD" AND SCARECROW--HUGE SUCCESS AT HARVEST MARKET, ROSEMARY BEACH

Chuck Hinson of HILLTOP PRODUCTIONS has done it again folks! The 1st Annual HARVEST MARKET of Rosemary Beach, Florida was held Oct. 31st. and despite the few little showers that came and went, the show was a great success for me and Janice.Yes, I got to take Janice with me, which seldom seems to happen. We put Susie in the kennel for a well deserved rest and Janice and I took the whole weekend for ourselves. I thought it was illegal for "working people" to sleep past 8am. Guess not!

The HARVEST MARKET was held in the same location as the WEST INDES MARKET and the HOLIDAY MARKET. The number of vendors was less than at other markets: it could have been due to it being new or the unfavorable weather forecast. Either way there were enough vendors to give the crowd a good selection to browse through and buy.

Janice had us running to the ever popular

WAL-MART to buy candy to hand out to the kids

that would attend the market. She had also

planned ahead and brought her scarecrow costume

to wear.

She can be seen in the second photo posing with

guest celebrity "Arnold the Pig". Arnold as you

may recall was the lead pig on the old TV show

GREEN ACRES.

Here Arnold is talking with the Scarecrow and trying to get some of the free candy that Chuck had thoughtfully given to each vendor to be sure to have treats for the kids. That Chuck thinks of everything!

I want to stop here and personally thank Chuck for being so kind to some new vendors to the show. They needed to set-up next to me to help me unload and then re-load after the show. Chuck said, "No problem". Trust me readers, you don't get that from many promoters.

These are the 7ft.6in. TOY SOLDIERS that Janice makes. They are impressive and have great curb appeal at Christmas time. We have a few left and if you would like some, let me know as some as possible, as it takes a long time to get these guys ready to send out the door.

Joe, my son "the chief lineman" at the glider shop, got this BUNTING WHEAT PATTERN ready the day before we left to go to the show. That kid is amazing at times.

Be sure to check the left hand side of the blog page for updates on coming Rosemary Beach shows, as well as all the other shows that we do.

"Arnold the Pig" and I will be looking for you there!

As always I can be reached at
larrycook351@gmail.com
706-302-8902

1 JOKER+3 FAIRIES+1"BIG ASS" PIG= AVONDALE AUTUMN FEST

THIS IS THE RESIDENT "JOKER" GIVING THE MAGIC TWIRL BLESSING TO ONE OF MY GLIDERS! THIS IS SAID TO BRING GOOD LUCK INSIDE THE PERIMETER OF 285-LET'S HOPE SO!


THESE CUTE "LITTLE" FAIRIES JUST HAD TO KISS THE PIG FOR GOOD LUCK. THIS IS A GOOD EXAMPLE OF WHY YOU SHOULD LIMIT THE NUMBER OF ADULT BEVERAGES THAT CAN BE CONSUMED AT A FESTIVAL.

















AND OF COURSE, THE HIT OF THE AVONDALE AUTUMN FEST WAS ARNOLD, THE PIG. IF YOU CAN REMEMBER BACK ABOUT 40 YEARS, ARNOLD WAS THE LEADING PIG ON "GREEN ACRES". NOW THIS CHILD TV STAR HAS GROWN UP TO BECOME QUITE THE HAM!


IS IT ANY WONDER THAT I LOVE THE ATLANTA FESTIVALS MARKET? GREAT FUN, GOOD PEOPLE, FABULOUS FOOD, BEAUTIFUL FALL COLORS, AND A 4 FOOT TALL PIG TO CALL MY OWN!
larrycook351@gmail.com 706-302-8902

KNOCKERS, BEER and A 260lb.FAIRY---NOW THAT'S CANDLER PARK FESTIVAL!!!!

Although the weatherman predicted doom and gloom it was a beautiful week-end! The kind folks at the festival gave me a fantasic spot to set-up and we helpful in every way. From my stand point, if the promoter will take care of the vendor, the vendor will take care of the customer.

This was my first outing with CANDLER PARK FALL FESTIVAL and I loved it! Held the second weekend in October, this festival draws huge crowds. A vast array of artists, delightful food, and some of the best sounding bands in
Atlanta, and of course a kids zone, the FESTIVAL had something for everyone.

We were visited on Sunday by a local fairy that I see at INMAN PARK FESTIVAL in the spring. He was in the spirit of the show and was entertaining the crowd. "THANK YOU" to whoever his alter ego is, and please visit us again.

What on earth could ever top a truck that is completely a beer keg!? I am sure they have been around for a while, but this was my first sighting and I just had to laugh. For those that like a beer, this has to be an answer to a prayer.

I found an old door out back of my workshop and it just begged me to clean it up a bit and use it for a door knocker display. Well it worked out just fine and I sold many more knockers from the door than I ever do when they are just lying on the table.

SEE SOME THAT YOU LIKE? WANT A PRICE? CONTACT ME AT larrycook351@gmail.com OR 706-302-8902.

NEXT REPORT: AVONDALE AUTUMN FEST, COMING UP THE 24th AND 25th.

WATKINSVILLE---GO DAWGS!!!

Just a little south of the great city of Athens, Georgia-home of the GEORGIA BULLDOGS, is the quaint little southern town of Watkinsville. The third Saturday of October each year is the celebration of the Oconee Fall Festival. The turn out for this annual event is tremendous. I do a lot of shows and I am here to tell you that cities with much larger populations can't match the "SEA OF RED" that I saw last Saturday. This would not be worth mentioning except that there was a steady drizzle/rain all day long. Other festivals only can envy the patriotism of the fans of Watkinsville. I was able to be among the many vendors that huddled under their tents to stay out of the rain. I was fortunate in that in all the bad weather, the crowds were still large enough to give me a profitable day. You can't say that at many shows when the rains come.

So THANK YOU, Watkinsville, and be sure to look for me again next fall.
larrycook351@yahoo.com   706-302-8902

JUST WHEN YOU THINK SEASIDE CAN'T GET ANY BETTER......

Would you just look at this crowd! The fall and spring yard sales are a must on my list of shows to do each year. Large crowds, sun, sand, beautiful gulf waters are like magnets to my soul. But this year was special and will be hard to top. My son Clay, along with wife Tonya,and children Sarah, Alex, and Emily in tow, can to spend the weekend with Janice and I and to help sell.
We scored a huge 4 room suite right on the gulf, with a balcony overlooking the the street for great "people-watching". Clay and I got up on Saturday morning and had another outstanding yardsale, while Janice was on a fantacy vacation with three of her grandchildren, with Alex and Emily being the two newest members to the COOK clan. I think it would not have mattered how to sale went to Janice. larrycook351@gmail.com 706-302-8902