FLAGLER

HOME RUN: Annual Flagler Home & Lifestyle show kicks off this weekend

Aaron London
alondon@news-jrnl.com
Planning for the next Flagler Home & Lifestyle Show begins almost immediately after the event ends. From left, Melanie Hyes, Connie Feeney and Renee Stauffacher from Flagler Technical Institute are organizing this year's show, which runs Jan. 20 and 21 at Flagler Palm Coast High School. [News-Tribune/Aaron London]

While some are anticipating the Feb. 2 appearance of Punxsutawney Phil to get over the winter doldrums, Flagler County residents only have to wait until this weekend for a sign that spring is coming.

The 32nd annual Flagler Home & Lifestyle Show kicks off Saturday with more than 300 vendors highlighting a variety of goods and services on the campus of Flagler Palm Coast High School.

"We have several new vendors that have come for this year's show," said Renee Stauffacher, Flagler Technical Institute director and a co-organizer of the two-day show that is one of Flagler County's biggest annual events.

The show features local vendor booths as well as displays by artists and craftspeople, a health fair, food and entertainment throughout the event. An expanded Kids Zone also is on tap for families looking to check out the sprawling displays at the school off State Road 100.

"We've expanded the Kids Zone to a much larger scale," said Melanie Hayes from FTI.

Stauffacher said in addition to the outdoor Kids Zone, visitors will have a lot of other options to choose from before they even get inside.

"There will be vendors outside in front of the school as well as food trucks outside where the Kids Zone is located," she said.

While the show offers residents a chance to learn about local businesses and organizations, it also serves an important purpose for the Flagler Technical Institute.

"It is essential for student scholarships for FTI," Stauffacher said. "Not all of our programs are Pell (grant) eligible so this helps fill in the gap and makes it possible for students to get training."

Organizers expect about 20,000 people to attend the show on Saturday and Sunday and to manage that size crowd, a lot of planning is required.

"We started planning essentially the day after the last show," Stauffacher said. "We started with thank-you letters and inviting the vendors to come back and get their same booth for next year."

Hayes said it takes about a month to close out the show and then planning for the next one begins.

Over the more than three decades the show has been around, the nature of Flagler County has changed and the Home Show has adapted to those changes, Stauffacher said.

"Thirty-two years is a long time, and at one time Flagler County was the fastest-growing county in population so a home and lifestyle show was good for anyone coming to the county to see what services are out there," she said. "On the flip side, after the recession a lot of contractors moved out of the area and since building has begun again, it gives Flagler County residents a chance to see who is here now."

Getting the word out about her new business is the reason Tamar Boorstin signed up for a booth at the Home Show.

"We're new. We just opened less than a month ago," she said. "The Home Show is kind of our target market. Those will be people we want to get our name in front of."

Boorstin, owner of Wild Birds Unlimited Palm Coast, said the Home Show is a "good venue for us to be at" and gives her a chance to introduce the business to residents.

"We're a nature shop focusing on backyard bird feeding," she said. "We just think it's a good venue for people to see us so we can help them with their backyard."

The relationship that show organizers have built with vendors and exhibitors over the years is one of the reasons so many come back year after year, organizers said.

"It's run by local people so the local vendors know us by name," Hayes said. "We work with them a lot as far as making it easy."

The Flagler Home & Lifestyle Show runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m Sunday. More information is available online at flaglerhomeandlifestyle.com.

If You Go

WHAT: Flagler Home & Lifestyle Show

WHEN: 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday; 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday

WHERE: Flagler Palm Coast High School, 5500 E. State Road 100

INFO: flaglerhomeandlifestyle.com