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Creston chamber presents annual home and garden show

With spring appearing to be here — well, almost — there’s nothing like preparing to spruce up your home...

With spring appearing to be here — well, almost — there’s nothing like preparing to spruce up your home. And there’s no better way to get ideas than by attending the Creston Valley Home, Garden and Leisure Show.

With 87 booths, the sold-out show runs 2-9 p.m. April 15 and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. April 16 at the Creston and District Community Complex. Due to construction in the John Bucyk Arena, it will be held on the curling rink and Erickson Room, with an outdoor area in the location of the former outdoor James Ross Memorial Pool.

“We’ve got picnic supplies, a water well rig and food vendors,” said Creston Valley Cham-ber of Commerce executive director Jim Jacobsen. “The entrance will be a bit more noticeable than the last couple of years.”

About 20 new vendors, including Costco, have joined the lineup this year, some from as far away as the Okanagan and Calgary, joining locals to offer deck furniture, barbecue and kitchen supplies, art, insurance, food and health products.

The Creston Rotary Club and several non-profits, as well as candidates in the upcoming federal election, will have information booths.

All of the vendors at Creston’s home show are looked after well, with catered meals and a vendors’ lounge during the day, a tradition started by Sue Thomas and the Creston Valley Business Association in 2005.

“It’s been a hit ever since,” said Jacobsen. “The chamber is following that lead.”

The excellent treatment of vendors has earned the local show a good reputation, leading the Columbia Basin Trust to call it the best show in the Kootenays a few years ago. And it keeps vendors coming back.

“A lot of them renew on-site that weekend,” Jacobsen said.

Visitors to the show also enjoy attending — 3,000 came to the two-day event last year, and Jacobsen expects about 3,500 this time around. And when the show moves back into the arena next year, anything is possible.

“We only expect the show to grow,” he said.

Of course, it wouldn’t be much of a show without a grand prize, which comes this year in the form of a lawn tractor from Home Hardware Building Centre — or the winner can take $1,500 in gift certificates for the store instead.

With high attendance, the Creston Valley Home, Garden and Leisure Show is a big hit with local businesses that participate.

“Some local businesses find they get so much traffic in two days that it’s a great stimulus for their business,” said Jacobsen.

For more information or to volunteer, contact Jim Jacobsen at 250-428-4342.