After a long haul to purchase a cotton candy machine we weren’t planning to waste time getting started. That equipment was expensive. Today we set up at the 11th Annual Liberty Square Celebration in Sparta, TN with the BonDeCraft Elementary and gave a portion of the profits to the school. We made T-Shirts to help draw attention. I did a good job on the shirts as there were actually people asking if any were for sale.
We woke up at 7AM and set up when people were just beginning to arrive. The night before we made a little over 100 cotton candies and bagged them. As well as pre-bagged candies we made them on site which was a smash hit; mostly for entertainment value for the children. Sales didn’t start until just before noon and went strong until 5PM when most booths began shutting down.
We were placed in the absolute worst position at the festival. In the back, not near the food court, and behind a large air-filled jumping castle is not a good position. If not for the martial arts booth next to us there would be very little traffic near our booth. During their exhibitions we did awesome. But, it was short lived.
Making the cones kept me entertained, especially while fighting off a host of pollen-seeking honey bees. Luckily honey bees are not aggressive. I know this as my father raised honey bees during my entire childhood and they only stung me when threatened (aka stepped on). The wind would pick up as I tried to roll a cone. It never failed. Going into this I was the only person to have working knowledge of the machine. I quickly showed little Rex how to run the machine so I could take a break. A flock of girls swarmed him. No one likes cotton candy that much. They bought between five and eight cones each. One of the group obviously had a watch on him but he was clueless. Ahh, to be young and blissfully ignorant again. He made a huge cone for this one girl only for her friends to goof around and make her drop it. Upon hearing of this fact he made a small cone and gave it to her.
During my little break I went to the renaissance booth and bought a turkey leg. I wasn’t too fond of it, which was disappointing. I’m a huge fan of old style foods. Perhaps it was the fact it was smoked more than cooked that gave it a very jerky flavor as opposed to a savory poultry flavor. I mostly filled up with cotton candy and popcorn.
After 5PM most people only waited around for the fireworks that evening. We finished selling nearly all of the cotton candy we had left during this time frame. The fireworks were astounding. It was very well choreographed.
Given it was our first outing and we had the worst absolute position available I feel we did great. We were going to be at the festival anyways. At least this time we made several times more than we would have spent any other time. It was a definite learning experience to be had.