Dale Niebergall (right) with the Kipling Trade Show grand prize winner Mike Muscoby (left). Mike won the trip to see Charlie Pride in concert.

By Lizz Bottrell

Citizen StaffCompared to past years, attendance appeared lower at the 2008 Kipling Home and Agro Trade Show on April 18 - 19. “Attendance was down a little,” said Dale Niebergall. “I received a mixed response from people. The number of exhibitors was down, so some people thought there wasn’t enough.”

Many exhibitors had the same complaint that attendance seemed lower, but despite that fact, most were happy with how the event turned out. “I found that it was absolutely fascinating,” said Rena Bergman, a Nikken Independent Wellness Consultant. “There was more time to have more in depth conversations with people since it was lower attendance. I found that people were very nice, laid back and interesting.”

Nikken, a company that started in Japan, works to promote wellness in what they call the Five Pillars of Health - healthy body, mind, family, society and finances. Bergan, who lives in Indian Head, visited Kipling for the first time to set up a booth at the trade show. “The people that were in town where I stayed were very nice and inviting,” said Bergan. “This is a really nice area.”

Mainline Insurance Brokers also set up at the trade show for the first time ever. “I just took over as the manager in the office in August, so it was good exposure for us,” said Stacy Sauve. “It was our first time at the fair and it was good.” Though she did comment she thought the attendance was a little on low side, she still figured the show was well attended, considering the number of other events going on in the area.

Don Johnson, who works for Dusyk Enterprises in Montmartre, had no complaints from the trade show. “It was just fine,” said Johnson. “We got there expecting it to be a Home and Garden show and less farmers, and that’s just what it was.” With Dusyk being a full-line agriculture dealership, they never expect to sell a lot at the show, but they did have a couple items that sold like hot cakes. “The [John Deere] bicycle and scooter were the two biggest sales of the weekend,” said Johnson. “There were a lot of big smiles. The kids were able to take them for a test drive right there and then were able to convince their parents to buy them.”

Johnson also found it seemed that the attendance was lower. “It seemed like maybe there was a little bit less traffic, but maybe it was spread out over the course of the day and a half,” said Johnson. Regardless, Johnson left the trade show weekend pleased with the amount of product he sold and the contacts he made.

The biggest complaint from any of the exhibitors related back to the carpet. “I’d like to see them change the people they got the stuff from,” said Tim Dew, a salesperson from Carlyle R.V. and Leisure. He commented that the carpet was in real poor condition. “It was dusty and people were tripping all over it. Further, the tables should have been thrown out to the fire.” Dew was not the only person who noticed the hazardous condition of the carpets. Many people throughout the weekend tripped over the bunched up carpets.

Niebergall said the poor condition of the carpets was due to the fact they didn’t have enough. “They were supposed to tape it down, but since they didn’t have enough, they couldn’t,” said Niebergall. “In the future we won’t go with carpet. If a booth wants carpet they’ll have to do it themselves.”

Despite the fact that attendance was lower, the carpets were poor and the tables may have been better suited for firewood, Dew really felt Niebergall did a fantastic job organizing the trade show. “Dale did a fabulous job, he’s a trooper,” said Dew. “The organizing committee did a good job.”