(PHOTOS) Home and Garden Show ushers in springtime season

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CASPER, Wyo. — Spring was in season on Saturday as the Central Wyoming Home Builders Association hosted its annual Home and Garden Show at The Ford Wyoming Center.

Hundreds of homeowners (and some renters, too) came to The Ford Wyoming Center to visit a myriad of booths and stations, all designed to help improve their homes and gardens.

The Home and Garden Show is now the product of Tami Updike, the Executive Director of the Central Wyoming Home Builders Association. But it was her dad’s brainchild when it first began, many years ago.

“My dad was very active in the community and I know he wanted to start and create something that would help the small businessman here in Casper,” Updike told Oil City News. “It was designed to help them promote their business and get the word out to the community.”

Updike’s father, Ray Ebert, partnered with Jim Delinger to create the very first Home and Garden show and, almost immediately, it was a hit. It has remained a hit since its inception and now it boasts more than 200 different vendors.

“My dad really wanted to help the local businessman, here in Casper,” Updike shared. “He wanted to bring people all in one place so that the community could easily find contrctors they they needed, whether it was plumbing or roofing or yard or house construction or any of that kind of stuff. He wanted to bring it to a local area for the residents of Casper to help the small businessman and get their names out there.”

Updike said her dad worked in advertising for many years, so he knew the power of proper marketing. And that’s what the Home and Garden Show has become. It’s become a proper way for multiple business-people to market their services to the greater Casper community.

For Updike, herself, the Home and Garden Show is more than just a community-wide advertisement expo. For her, it’s a part of her dad that she gets to keep with her. It’s a legacy, something she can continue to honor him and keep his dream alive.

“My dad actually passed away last year,” Updike said. “And my mom retired from the Home Builders Association, so I just kind of wanted to continue his legacy and make sure that it was still up and running and still working well for the community. It’s important to me because it was important to him.”

It’s important to many local businesses, as well. For many of these vendors, this is the biggest weekend of their year. Sales made and connections forged over this weekend can set the pace for the remainder of the spring and summer seasons. It’s become an important event for business owners and for homeowners.

And it takes a lot of work.

“We set up all day the Wednesday before,” Updike said. “So we have to put up all the displays that people see and kind of make it prettier, rather than just a bunch of booths. We try to add a little ambience. My board members help organize and set up the vendors, who move in on Thursday. The board members are there to help answer questions and get them into their booths and basically just direct traffic.”

The show takes place Friday, Saturday and Sunday and then, Updike said, the board spends the rest of Sunday evening picking up and packing out.

“They’re amazing,” Updike said of her board. “They workl really hard at what they do for me. They’re definitely a great group of people. They’re very supportive, very helpful. Without that community, of the board, I definitely couldn’t do this show without them. And neither could my dad.”

Updike said that the event’s success is measured by how many people walk through the doors and, if Saturday was any indication, the event was a rousing success. The Ford Wyoming Center was full of people, many of whom had the biggest smiles on their faces as they sampled everything the vendors had to offer.

“In the past, our vendors have said, ‘Hey, this was a great show, we got a lot of leads,’” Updike said. “We kind of gauge our success off that. If my vendors do well, we do well. I mean, they return every year so we must be doing something right.”

For Updike, herself, success is measured by others’ success. That’s how it was for her father, as well. If the vendors had a successful weekend, the Central Wyoming Home Builders Association had a good weekend.

“For me, the best part of this event is just knowing that we’re helping businesses in town promote their business and hopefully making it easier for the public to find a plumber or a roofer, or even fudge or popcorn,” Updike said. “It makes me happy to know that I’m helping those businesses connect with our public, and making it easier for the public to connect with them.”

The Home and Garden Show is happening Saturday until 6 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at The Ford Wyoming Center. Admission is free.

Photos of vendors from the Home and Garden Show can be seen below:

Photos from the Central Wyoming Home Builders Association’s annual Home and Garden Show (Nick Perkins, Oil City News)