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Food Vending, Pima County Arizona Part two

Well, as some of you may know I had a peanut brittle booth at the 4th Avenue Street Fair this year. I want to report to the food vendors about food vending at this event in Tucson, Arizona. As you know the 4th Avenue Street Fair is huge. It occurs twice a year one in December and then in the spring, usually in March. Competition to get into this event is very very high and there is a intense jury process that starts at Zapp For years I have hesitated in trying to get into this event as I believed the process to be too difficult - after all peanut brittle is a food product. My product is however pre-packaged and currently I have a wholesale food license from the state of Colorado. This license gives me a right to sell anywhere in the USA, including the 4th Avenue Street Fair in Tucson. Now, the 4th Avenue Merchants Association takes good care of its potential food vendors - and acts as a buffer between the Pima Health Department and the 4th Avenue event. My experience with the Pima Health Department in this regard was nothing short of dismal. Don't call them if you want into this street fair. Please just fill out the Zapp Application and once accepted into the show follow the instructions of the Merchants Association. Calling the Pima Health Department is a waste of time. They sincerely appear to not know what they are doing. I tried a few times. It appears that some of the people answering the phone there do not even know about this street fair. This is dismal. This fair is huge and very near the downtown area. Then there is a question of what regulations to follow at the street fair regarding screening in your booth. The Pima County Health Department told me one thing and the street fair another. Since the street fair is successful and its their venue - do what they tell you. So if you are a new food vendor hesitating because of the regulations concerning food vending in Arizona, and you want to do this event, just contact the Merchants Association and leave the Pima Health Department out of the loop. This is a great event for a new food vendor to do especially if you have a great new product that has not been at the street fair before.

By |2019-05-16T20:47:11+00:00January 4th, 2013|Fair, Arizona, Christmas, Colorado Wholesale License, Concessions, Food, Green Valley, Peanut Brittle, Tucson, Vendors|0 Comments
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AZ, 4th Avenue Street Fair Tucson, Christmas 2012

Well, I survived. I always wanted to do the 4th Avenue Street Fair in Tucson with my peanut brittle. I have been making and selling homemade peanut brittle for about forever. It is made in the shape of Christmas Wreaths, mostly, decorated and put into white sturdy pizza boxes. The Street Fair was to say the least an experience. Did I make money? Well, yes, but not as much as I had thought I would. It had been awhile since I had attended or looked at the street fair. The crowds are enormous. People go from Speedway to the bridge down 4th Avenue in droves and come back the other way in droves. I am convinced the crowds come a lot because the weather is usually great in Tucson this time of year. A lot of people attending the street fair are winter residents getting away from the cold northern climates. I must say I was rather disappointed in a lot of the booths quality. If I was running the fair I would be much harder in the jurying of the booths. A lot of the booths were great and had a good appearance and good quality stuff. Unfortunately, many had the atmosphere and presentation of a flea market quality. This street fair has been around a long long time and in my opinion it ought to present a more professional higher quality vendor. There was no help in getting me out of there after the fair was over either. The police seemed annoyed and bothered by the vendors trying to disassemble after the event. I ended up taking out my stuff by myself a block and a half in a hand cart. It was pretty impossible to drive down the street and pick up my stuff. Will I do it again? I don't know. It was physically and mentally exhausting. Besides, I rediscovered the fact that vendors for the most part are second class citizens for some reason. Its a shame because some of the vendors are really great artists and great art is important.

By |2019-05-16T21:00:31+00:00December 30th, 2012|Fair, Arizona, Christmas, Tucson, Vendors|0 Comments
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Rick Adam – Junk Band and Silly Stuff

Rick Adam/A.K.A. Professor Paddy-Whack has toured everywhere, from Maine to China. for over 30 years he's been featured on stage, television, radio, and film. Junk Band and Silly Stuff: From Garth Brooks to Bruce Springsteen – Musical Adventures with Professor Paddy-Whack Its a Rick Adam, Holiday shot! He has shared venues with Garth Brooks, Livingston Taylor, and Phish... to name a few. He appeared on the PBS series “The Lonesome Pine Specials” in 1993, and a video of the program was added to the Permanent Collection of the Smithsonian Institute. Also, in 1998 and 2000 he performed for Bruce Springsteen at his home in New Jersey. The video is a Mini-documentary on Rick Adam /A.K.A. Professor Paddy-Whack One Man Junk Band. The Professor's rig on wheels is a "Rube Goldberg musical contraption with a Spike Jones style wackiness." With footage shot at the Fryeburg Fair in Maine where Rick has been a featured performer for the last 25 years, he performs a "Musical Mechanical Melody of the Most Melodic Melodies Know to Modern Man!" You have to, see it to believe it! Check out his Websire

By |2024-02-26T16:11:57+00:00December 31st, 2010|Christmas, Entertainer of the Month, Entertainment, Music, Singer|1 Comment
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Halloween Decorating Outside your Home

Revive Your Flower Beds: Halloween Decorating Tips for Your Front Yard Now that Halloween is upon us, why not put those flower beds (you know the ones you thought had been laid to rest for the winter) to good use? It’s time to dress up your front yard for the Fall. Here are some tips to make your home look wonderful, even when the weather may not be. Leaves of Many Colors - Fallen foliage is a perfect fertilizer to help keep your yard and flower beds in perfect growing condition for the spring when it’s time to start planting flowers and such again. They also make a great base for your Halloween decorations. Who says flowers are only for the spring and summer months? Here is a partial list of flowers that will make it through the autumn months. These flowers are hardier than their spring and summer counterparts and will last a lot longer too. Chrysanthemums Joe Pye Weed Chelone (also known as Turtleheads) Even veggies have their place in your Halloween yard décor. Now is the perfect time to pick up gourds, squash, and pumpkins from a neighboring farm or store. Not only are they decorative, but you can eat the squash, carve the pumpkins, or make pie too! For those who live in the country and like to attract wildlife, deer enjoy pumpkins after the season as well. Fall pumpkins and Halloween sorta go together. Liven up your yard with a lot of Halloween pumpkin designs. Seasonal decorations to adorn your yard are fairly easy to come by this time of year. Check your local dollar store to pick up everything from bird feeders to scarecrows and more. Here are a few other ideas for sprucing up the outside of your home this Halloween. Bird feeders adorned with black crows Scarecrows for your garden and flower beds – You can purchase these or make your own. Get the whole family involved and spend some quality family fun time together. Pumpkin arrangements – Using hay bales, create your own pumpkin and scarecrow scene or village. Using fallen limbs and sticks from the trees create stick Halloween characters. Always popular at Halloween are Frankenstein and his bride along with ghosts hanging from the bare tree branches. Rake all those leaves that have fallen from the trees in September and early October. Put them in black or orange garbage bags to prop up throughout your yard and beds. You can purchase ones with jack-o-lantern faces already [...]

By |2024-02-27T09:21:44+00:00October 3rd, 2009|Garden, Halloween, Holidays|3 Comments
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4th pf July contest crazy

Have you ever wondered what happened to some of these old-fashioned contests our grandparents played? They are alive and well at successful county fairs, everywhere, like for instance here are some of the contests going on at the Houlton Agricultural Fair in Maine over the 4th of July fair. I have been looking at county fairs and event contests Pie Eating Contest, Bubble Gum Blowing Contest, Oreo Cookie Stacking Contest, Hula Hoop Contest, Ice Cream Eating Contest, Egg Toss Contest, Pig Scramble, on to the Kid’s Cooking Contest, Kid’s Karaoke, Kid’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Contest, Soccer Ball Contest, Water Balloon Contest, Little Mr. and Mrs. Firecracker Contest, Salsa Chugging Contest, Moxie Chugging Contest, Basketball Contest, Kid’s Tractor Contest, Burping Contest, Skillet Throw Contest, Cash Cube Contest Now the San Diego County Fair in California is also going on at this time, with the following contests… Watermelon Spitting Contest, Frozen T-Shirt Contest, Corn Husking Contest, Kid’s Best Hannah Montana Look-a-like contest, Blue Potato Toss contest, Most patriotic costume contest, and because it's California it is followed by a wine tasting contest. The MORAL here folks thank heaven, is that the computer games and interaction are not everything… thank heaven we can still have fun!

By |2024-02-29T13:05:45+00:00June 21st, 2009|4th July, Contests, Holidays|0 Comments
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