[dropcap font=”arial” fontsize=”12″]I[/dropcap]It’s been a cloudy morning here in Anoka, Minnesota. That was after we received a storm warning last night with showers. I came to the St. Stephen’s Catholic Church’s Summerfest as a craft vendor for Imprisoned Show. I had signed up to set up outside but with the weather condition; I had to look for an alternative, especially when I did not have a canopy. I had bought an umbrella, thinking that would help when the sun shines, not knowing that the rain would be threatening to pour down.
The staff on ground, Jody helping was a very sweet lady. After showing me my spot, I decided to tell her my dilemma. She was kind; she asked me to wait to talk to the director in charge, Teri to see if I could get a spot indoor. A lady selling doll costumes was advised to make room for me. She was kind enough and she moved her unloading items to bring to my new spot when a lady and her son came up with a trolley. I thought I heard her say they were coming to help me but I wasn’t sure that I heard her right. I took two items and left. When I came back out for more, I saw the rest of my items on her trolley bringing them in for me. I thanked her and told her that I was not sure if I had heard her right. We did a second trip and got all the items.
Fun for Kids
There are at least 30 vendors here today; there is a variety of crafted works displayed for sale. It is such a great opportunity to participate in a community event like this to reinforce human trafficking awareness. I have been chatting with guests since we settled down at 10:00am. My six-year old son, Sam is with me; little boys cannot sit still for a very long time, especially when there is fun outside. He wanted to go on the dragon slide, one of the inflated balloons set up for kids’ entertainment. There are volunteers for vendors; they help to watch your table for few minutes while you need to run a quick errand or need to step away from your table. A volunteer helped to watch our table while I quickly took Sam to the dragon slide. Luckily, one of my customers at Bukola Braiding, Teanke was volunteering outside, she helped to watch him while out there so that I could go back to my table while he spends more time having fun.
Shortly after I settled down again, another volunteer came to introduce herself, Paula and also said she will be willing to spend some minutes at my table if I needed to step away.
These people are organized and very helpful. I am really happy to be here, where they are not only organized, but are also kind.