It’s often tempting to think we know all there is to know about this tradition or that in our community. For some it’s credential. For others it’s requisite for being an effective ambassador on behalf of Saline, to the far reaches, whenever spark of interest can be found in willing ears.
Among such mainstays there’s likely little disagreement that our Saline Craft Shows be included among them. With over three decades on the books, reading this, you may well think that the only reason for perusing this far, at this time, is for quick reference to 2019 Spring Craft Show date, hours, and price of admission. [1,2]
- March 16 (Saturday) — $4.00 per person at the door
As usual, it will be open to visitors from 8:00am to 3:30pm, held at the middle school on North Maple Road. [3]
Given our audience, Saline Journal has focused on covering Saline Craft Shows in terms of the business marketplaces they provide and the tourists they attract. Indeed, one of the keys to their success lies in strategic, formulaic initiatives specifically developed to not only grow exhibitor and attendee numbers, but to actively refresh them. [4,5]
Once again, a well-craft billboard along the I-94 gateway to Washtenaw County typifies the show organization commitment to all of the above.
This year, however, we turn our focus to another longstanding part of the floor — and a signature piece in its own right.
The “Gift Basket Contest Challenge” is an open invitation to individuals, classrooms, athletic teams, clubs, businesses, and families with an enticingly simple set of stipulations. Contestants fill a container with a selection of goods, organized according to a theme of their choosing. More than the opportunity for any given winning entry to win a prize and bragging rights, entries support a fundraising initiative.
Anyone and everyone can vote for one or more baskets between 8:00am and 2:00pm: One penny equals one vote.
After the show closes, winners announced, all baskets and money raised are turned over to Saline Area Social Service (SASS). [6]
SASS Chief Operating Officer Glenna Rehder serves as liaison between her organization and Saline Craft Shows on the Gift Basket Contest. In describing for =Saline Journal the incredible impact that this offering provides to our community through SASS, her expressions of gratitude teetered between talking about the number of trucks required to transport baskets after the show, to the incredible variety of meaningful themes.
You can think of ‘baskets’ if you want. One year, someone literally took a laundry basket and filled it with all sorts of supplies for doing laundry. I can’t tell you how many people had their eye on that when it got here.
But people don’t always use baskets. The =themes seem more the thing. ‘Coffee’ themes and ‘Mexican’ themes — I suppose you can imagine what you’d put together for those. But what about a ‘Hawaiian’ theme? I think there was a lot of variety in that one: Sunblock and plates and a folding chair. Someone else did a ‘book’ basket — all sorts of books, great books, for all ages.
It’s a fun way to give back.
Not surprisingly, Saline Area Social Service has systems in place to set recipient expectations for basket arrivals and a way to balance distributions fairly.
Just as important, the Saline Craft Shows Gift Basket Contests provide an ongoing point of continuity necessary to assure the continued stability of SASS as a whole. The illustrate and underscore the need for collaboration among community stakeholders in recognition that a sustainability-oriented community best grows by supporting a tide that lifts all of its ships as it rises.
Not that anyone needs another reason to visit the 2019 Saline Craft Show next weekend, and yet here is one more that you can even better appreciate now.
References
- Saline Craft Shows (home page).
- Saline Craft Show (Facebook Page).
- “Saline Middle School” Saline Area Schools.
- “‘November Craft Show’ Extends The Reach Of Saline Community, Grows The Audience It Serves, And Teaches Lessons In Business” Dell Deaton (November 3, 2019) Saline Journal.
- “There’s a Formula to Saline Craft Show Success and Community Value” Dell Deaton (March 29, 2018) Saline Journal.
- Saline Area Social Service (home page).
- “Jamail Aikens shares thoughts about ongoing community need as his tenure with Saline Area Social Service winds down” Dell Deaton (February 20, 2019) Saline Journal.
