My First Town Fair: Three Days at the Wolcott Country Fair

There are some small-business experiences you simply can’t prepare for until you live them.

The Wolcott Country Fair was my very first town fair. I had already done a few vending events before, but a three-day town fair was something completely new for me.

And apparently, my introduction to town fairs needed to include sunshine, humidity, new friends, familiar faces, lots of soap…and a Friday-night storm. 😂

Day 1: Setting Up, Flying Solo…Then Came the Rain

Friday afternoon started with me setting up and carrying trays of products by myself because my amazing husband was still at work.

Thankfully, I wasn’t actually alone for long.

My friend Asta and her daughter came to help me, and I was so grateful to have them there. When you see a finished vendor booth, you don’t always see what happened beforehand—the loading, carrying, unpacking, arranging, rearranging, and making sure hundreds of little things are where they’re supposed to be.

We got everything ready and started our first evening at the fair.

Then around 8 PM, the rain poured down and the strong winds came with it.

And when you sell handcrafted soap, watching rain and wind come toward your booth is definitely NOT the kind of excitement you want at a fair. 😂

Suddenly, the priority wasn’t selling anything.

SAVE THE SOAP!

Thankfully, I had incredible people around me, and we were able to protect the products.

One moment from that night especially stayed with me. A woman volunteering with the Lions Club, the fair organizer, drove me all the way to my car with my precious products.

She didn’t have to do that.

But she did.

That small act of kindness set the tone for what I would experience throughout the entire weekend.

Day 2: Hot, Humid—and Our Best Day

Saturday gave us completely different weather.

No pouring rain this time.

Instead: HOT. HUMID. BUSY.

And it became our best day of the entire fair.

We met so many people—and I quickly discovered there are definitely different types of fairgoers. 😂

There are the sniffers.

The “I’m just looking” crowd.

The curious ones.

The spontaneous buyers.

The people who want to know every ingredient.

The ones who already know exactly what they need.

And I enjoyed watching people discover our booth in their own way.

But some interactions stood out.

I met fellow nurses, which always makes the NurseCrafted™ conversation a little extra special.

I also met a woman who recognized me because she had previously purchased one of my soaps at the Bristol Bazaar.

That was such a moment for me.

Someone remembered my product.

Someone I met at another event recognized the person behind it.

For a growing small business, those moments matter.

Throughout the day, I also spoke with people of different ages who shared concerns about dry, sensitive, and eczema-prone skin. Those conversations reminded me why I’ve spent so much time developing products for people looking for gentler, thoughtfully formulated options.

An Unexpected Compliment

Another unexpected moment that made me smile was how many people complimented my skin while we were talking.

What they didn’t know was that I wasn’t wearing makeup—and I actually haven’t worn makeup in about seven months.

As the person behind NurseCrafted™, that felt especially meaningful. I spend so much time thinking about ingredients, formulations, and consistent skincare routines, so hearing those compliments naturally, face-to-face and completely unprompted, was pretty special.

I didn’t need to give anyone a sales pitch.

My skin was quietly representing the brand right there with me. 😂💚

Seeing Our Face-Care Bundles Go Home With Customers

One thing that made Saturday especially exciting was seeing customers choose some of our complete face-care bundles. I sold several of both the RejuvaGlow™ and CrystalGlow™ Face Care Bundles during the fair.

That meant a lot to me because these aren’t just individual products someone picked up on impulse. A full bundle means someone looked at the routine I put together, asked questions, listened to how the products are meant to work together, and trusted my recommendations enough to take the whole routine home.

Seeing those bundles leave my booth was one of those quiet “wow, people really believe in what I’m building” moments.

And now comes the part every formulator understands: waiting and hoping they’ll come back and tell me how their skin is loving their new routine. 💚

Asta came back again Saturday to help me set up and talk with customers.

By the end of the day, I was exhausted.

But I was also incredibly grateful.

Day 3: A Slower Sunday and a Lesson in Honesty

Sunday was slower, which wasn’t unexpected.

But slower doesn’t mean uneventful.

Sometimes fewer customers give you more time to actually talk to people—and one young customer gave me a story I won’t forget.

She had purchased soap from us and later realized she had accidentally picked up two bars instead of one.

She could easily have kept the extra soap.

Instead, she came all the way back to our booth, returned it, and apologized.

I was so impressed by her honesty that I gave her the soap.

Good deeds should never go unnoticed.

She later returned with friends, and some of them purchased our car diffusers.

One honest little decision turned into one of my favorite memories from the weekend.

Customers Became Friends—and Strangers Showed Us So Much Kindness

That weekend was filled with little surprises.

I met a new Thai friend who not only supported my business and purchased products but also gave us Thai food to take home for free.

After three days working a fair booth, you can imagine how appreciated that food was. 😂

Our wonderful booth neighbors at Kashy’s Crochet made the experience even better.

Family friends came by specifically to support us.

New customers trusted me enough to take my handcrafted products home.

And then something happened that reminded me why I continue showing up on social media even when posting content feels like another job on top of everything else.

A couple saw my Instagram post and actually came to the fair to find us.

They had a connection through one of Asta’s husband’s workers, saw that we were there, and decided to come support us.

Someone saw a post on a screen…and then got in their car and showed up at my booth.

That’s pretty amazing.

One Fair Can Open Another Door

We also met more of the wonderful Lions Club volunteers, including Dave, and that conversation opened the door to another potential opportunity for HumbleGlow Collections.

That’s another lesson I took home from the weekend.

A vendor event isn’t only about what you sell that day.

You never know who you’re going to meet.

A customer can become a repeat customer.

A stranger can become a friend.

A conversation can become an opportunity.

And someone who simply stops at your booth today might remember your business months from now.

What My First Town Fair Taught Me

Was I tired?

Absolutely. 😂

Was everything perfect?

Definitely not.

On Friday, I was carrying trays and setting up while waiting for my husband to finish work. By Friday night, we were rescuing soap from wind and rain. Saturday was hot, humid, and incredibly busy. Sunday slowed down but brought some of the most memorable people of the weekend.

And through all three days, people helped us.

People supported us.

People remembered us.

People trusted us.

That’s what I’ll remember most about my first town fair.

Not simply how many products we sold, but the people behind every interaction.

To Asta and her daughter, my husband, our family friends, the Lions Club volunteers, Dave, Kashy’s Crochet, my new Thai friend, my fellow nurses, previous customers, first-time customers, Instagram followers who showed up in person, everyone who stopped to smell something, everyone who asked questions, and everyone who took a little piece of NurseCrafted™ home with them:

Thank you.

You made my first Wolcott Country Fair one I will never forget.

I arrived as a first-time town-fair vendor.

I left exhausted, grateful, encouraged—and already carrying lessons I’ll take with me to the next one.

And thankfully…

all the soaps survived. 

— Verly
Your Nurse Bestie & Formulator
NurseCrafted™ by HumbleGlow Collections