Kiwanis to hold vendor fair this weekend
Courtesy image
SMELTERVILLE –– The weather looks good, the vendors are signed up, and the Kiwanis Club of the Silver Valley is ready for Beer and Browse 2023.
The second edition of the philanthropic organization’s premier summer event looks to be a massive improvement upon their first try, which suffered from some unusual weather.
“You know, last year the weather wasn’t great and we still were able to make a ton of money for the vendors who stuck it out with us,” Kiwanis president Bridget Hojem said previously. “I don’t care what anyone says, this year we’re going to have better weather.”
Earlier this week it looked like that prediction was trending in the wrong direction, but all forecasts say that temps will hover in the mid-70s with sunny skies for the weekend vendor fair.
Hojem took cues from other local events to shape the event, adding live music and reconfiguring the layout of the event as a whole.
“We’re adding live music, extending the hours, and trying to get as many vendors as possible,” Hojem said. “We mapped out 73 different spots for vendors, but we had room to expand pretty much as big as that lot allows.”
It’s a good thing they had that flexibility too.
“As of now, we have 81 vendors and 113 booths with people still signing up,” she said. “We have a huge variety of vendors, a bouncy house, bottomless mimosas available all day, domestic beer, as well as beer donated from Radio Brewing.”
Vendors will include several food and drink options like burgers, nachos, bakeries, freeze-dried snacks, and energy drinks. Other vendors will have handmade crafts, jewelry, antiques, candles, pottery, apparel, and more.
Live music will be performed throughout both days and Hojem has put together a stacked lineup of regional favorites:
Courtney and Company – 10 a.m. Sat.
Keth Wallace - The Acoustic Experience – 12 p.m. Sat.
Josephine – 3 p.m. Sat.
GTO – 5 p.m. Sat.
Rusty Jackson – 9 a.m. Sun.
Diana Ruiz – 12 p.m. Sun.
The Kiwanis Club funnels the funds they raise at events like the Beer and Browse, or their annual Concert in the Garden into programs like the Silver Valley Snack Pak, Osburn’s Lions Park Renovation, Shop with a Cop, Silver Valley Headstart, Silver Valley Little League, as well as various teacher grants, scholarships, and extra clothing for the schools.
Beer and Browse 2023 is this Saturday and Sunday, June 24-25. Saturday will run from 9 a.m. through 7 p.m. and Sunday will be from 9 a.m. through 5 p.m. in the lot just east of Walmart in Smelterville.