I had been looking forward to the Holiday Treasures vendor weekend, especially during October getting things ready to go. So Friday, October 31, plants, books, and pecans were all organized and ready to go. We loaded up and proceeded to set up at the Bailey County Coliseum. The tables were set, prices were marked; all ready for the sale Saturday.

Photo courtesy of Lorena Deleon

Then, Saturday morning about 4:30 a.m., here comes Cookie Dog, who is terrified of thunderstorms, up on the bed and lays down as close to me as she can. Apparently, she had sensed the storm was brewing. By 6:30 or so, here comes the rain, the thunder and lightning putting on quite a show, and she took every step I took begging for protection from the storm. Thank goodness we set up Friday evening! Doing it Saturday morning in the storm would have been no fun.

The rain was still falling when we drove to the coliseum, knowing this weather was going to affect attendance to the market. The rain was welcome, but the timing was abysmal, right? Any weekend but this one! Cookie was not happy having to stay at home by herself, but she managed to find a hidey-hole where she felt somewhat safe until Bill went back to stay with her.

Lorena Deleon, the organizer of the event, said she signed up fifty-three vendors from Muleshoe, Littlefield, Shallowater, Abernathy, Wolfforth, Farwell, Friona, Breckenridge, Dallas. Vendors from New Mexico came too: Clovis, Roswell, Portales, Floyd, and Texico. A few vendors didn’t make it because of the weather, but the vendors who did come were busy setting up and ready for customers. I think one food truck, maybe more, braved the rain outside, and Muleshoe High School FFA also had a food booth inside. I took a few pictures before shoppers started arriving.

A fun discovery was when I saw my former student Christy Garcia, now Macias, whose daughter Megan had a booth, Saving Grace Creations. That’s part of the fun of these thing, seeing kids and who they grew up to be as an adult. And of course, visiting with friends and strangers who stop by, too.

Photo courtesy of Christy Macias.

I didn’t get to walk around and see all the booths and take pictures of everyone, and I probably missed some other former students, but I saw many as they walked by. and said hello. I did sample sweets from Priscilla’s Sweet Treats and wedding cookies from Maria’s Creations who was set up behind me.

The storm with all the light show finally went away, but the rain continued off and on all day, Cookie finally relaxed at home, and we did have a nice crowd of shoppers. Out of that rain all day, we only got two inches in the rain gauge at our house! Seems like it should have been more, but all my rain barrels filled up, so I guess I can’t complain.

This is the third year for Lorena and Holiday Treasures, and she is looking forward to doing it again next year. Perhaps a thunderstorm will choose a different weekend to bring us the rain then.

Thanks to Lorena Deleon for helping with this story.