Hometown businesses reap rewards of fair
Think that the Arts and Crafts vendors were the only ones raking in the cash on Saturday?
Think again.
The 60,000 people who flooded Hillsboro this past weekend didn't just buy candles and crafts from booths. They also visited hometown businesses, giving the Hillsboro economy a boost.
One industry that always receives a lift on the third Saturday in September is the hotel-motel business.
At Hill Crest Motel on D Street, all the rooms were booked up Friday — some up to a year in advance, said manager Angie Williams.
That's pretty typical for Arts and Crafts, she said. In fact, some of the visitors who stayed in town Friday night already made their reservations for next year before they left.
Country Haven Inn, on U.S. Highway 56, saw a similar situation. All 24 of the motel's rooms were booked Friday night, and staff had to continually turn people away, said desk clerk Maddie Cole.
The motel is already booked solid for next year. But all the interest will force them to change their policy after the 2003 fair and not allow advance reservations until January of the next year.
That's because some guests already wanted to book rooms two, three, even four years in advance — and that's something the motel just can't do, Cole said.
Downtown businesses whose open doors were just feet from the exhibitor's booths also benefited from the influx of people.
Molly's on Main saw a monstrous day, according to employee Janice Porter.
"It was huge," she said. "It's wonderful."
The staff at Molly's still hasn't sorted through all the receipts that came through that day — more than 150, one for each customer, Porter said.
Porter said that the store was also encouraged by many local residents who came to the store for the first time and promised to be back again.
At Thee Bookstore on North Main, business was "quite a bit better than last year," said Dianne Lygrisse, store owner.
Normally, the Christian bookstore's hours on Saturday are from 9 to 3. But Saturday, they stayed open until 5:30 p.m., Lygrisse said.
The store anticipated good crowds, she said.
