Clayfolk day 1

We're in Medford this weekend, for Clayfolk, the third of the pottery-only shows I do every year. Set up is relaxed: we come in Thursday afternoon, put up the booth and shelves and get the pottery boxes inside, then hit the motel and crash. Bright and early Friday morning, we're arranging the display hardware, setting out pots, organizing boxes of restock behind the bench. We're usually done by midday, leaving time for a light lunch and a visit to the orchard outlet store (locally grown pears for 75¢ a pound. Obscure apple varieties. Basically, catnip for me…) before the mandatory meeting/potluck at 2:30. Then it's cashier training, followed by last-minute fussing about the booth before the doors open at 4 pm.

And then things get a little hazy. Clayfolk is very well supported by the local community. I usually joke about how people line up to get in with their wallets open, but that's not that far off the mark. There are lines waiting for the doors to open, and starting around 4:30, the check-out area in the lobby is shoulder to shoulder, eight cashiers working flat-out and barely making a dent in the crowd.

I'm in my booth digging through restock boxes steadily for the first hour or so, barely getting new stuff out before it's gone again. One customer keeps snatching up squirrel soup bowls as I bring them out, ending up with four in her basket. I finally lie about how many I brought, so I'll have one left to display. Large serving bowls seem popular this year; fortunately, I brought a bunch of them. Two white-haired ladies almost come to blows over the last bunnies dessert plate. I have four, and they're all gone in the space of 15 minutes, ten of which were spent digging through boxes looking for the last one.

By the time I start my 6:30 cashier's shift, things have slowed down enough that Denise can take over the booth. Out in the lobby, the lines are a good bit thinner, but Larry my wrapper and I still work steadily pretty much right until 9 pm. Then back to the motel, and leftover Chinese food. And so to bed.

This morning we'll go in a little later, around 9 o'clock. I'll sort out and consolidate the restock, probably take out a couple of empty boxes, and then help set up the demonstration area for my committee assignment.

All in all, a good start to the weekend, and the holiday sales season.