FLOWERMART

YEAR ONE After an entire semester of making flowerpots, plates, and other ceramic nick-nacks, Flowermart finally arrived. The first weekend in May every year, the day started as it usually does- full of sun, moderate winds, and the excitement of gettting product on the shelves and people in our booth. Not until all of the pots and plates were on the shelves did it really hit me how much variety and spunk we had going on in our little booth. The sun made the glazes "pop" beyond belief as turquoise, brick reds, shiny blacks, and a variety of oranges, blues, and yellows lined the shelves. The individual personalities could be seen in each piece, even though names were never allowed- again, it wasn't ours to claim- but a work of ourselves to better the community. All proceeds from the two-day run went right back into the program to keep it alive the next year. All walks of life came through our booth. And though it was most rewarding to see a patron pay for a pot you made, knowing that it would benefit a greater cause was most important. Who could have known that in the years to come, I would be responsible for everything from firing the work to setting price tags for each piece of material- but this was just practice. Sales experience was a plus- but a smile and cheery demeanor went the furthest. By the end of the weekend we had raised more than $1500 dollars.