The Summer Sawdust is over for another year. It’s been 3 weeks since the closing day and it seems more like 3 months. My booth had to be torn down immediately — all those at the front of the show have to go, to make room for the Santa’s village they create for the winter show. After a great deal of indecisive thought, I decided not to move to another booth to do the winter show. I’ll be doing the Santa Monica Contemporary Crafts Market at the beginning of November, and The Discovery of Art in Pasadena later in December, and I eventually decided that it was too much to try to fit the winter Sawdust in as well. But it did make me sad, when I dropped by the grounds the other day to pick something up at the office, to see my barren booth spot - no trace of my summer home remains.
I’ve been anything but regular in my blog postings, since the first year, when I wrote every day. Instead, I offer a random selection of notes covering the past month.
Beatles Day
Towards the end of August we had a Beatles tribute day, which brought in the largest crowd of the summer: about 4,300 people came through the gate.
MacGyver Would Approve
I recommend keeping a can of compressed air and hairdryer handy, just in case a customer spills beer on your credit card machine.
New Musical Discovery
I don’t know if these guys performed at the Sawdust in years past and I just didn’t hear them, but my favorite musical discovery of the summer is the Pawnshop Kings . I particularly like the live CD included with their “My Brother’s Keeper” DVD. Actually, I haven’t watched the DVD yet, I bought the set just to get the music.
From the Ground Up, Every Year
Thanks to Troy Poeschl for putting together a time-lapse video of the 2009 booth build. All summer long, I explain to visitors that we build these booths from the ground up every year. Now you can see the craziness on YouTube: Sawdust 2009 Booth Build.
Way to Unwind
I can’t imagine a better way to unwind after the relentless pace of the show than to spend the night at the Crystal Cove Cottages, a nearby state park where the cottages are in very high demand. We were lucky enough to find out about a last-minute cancellation, so we took a 24-hour holiday where we got to just sit and watch the sunset:
