Army booth a big hit at Sunday’s Lodi Street Faire
Approximately 500 vendors gathered in Downtown Lodi on Sunday for the Lodi Street Faire, which Elisa Bubak, director of communications for the Lodi Chamber of Commerce, said was busy from noon until the end.
“It was a very successful event, bigger than our May Street Faire,” Bubak said.
The U.S. Army ran one of the most popular booths, Bubak said, taking up roughly half of a block on West Pine Street with push-up and pull-up contests as well as vehicles such as Humvees.
“The kids really loved going through all the vehicles,” Bubak said.
Approximately one-third of the vendors were first-timers, Bubak said, and the remaining two-thirds returned either from this May’s fair or from events in the past.
Bubak credits Karen Cannon, the Lodi Chamber’s events manager, with putting the event together along with her team of volunteers.
“Karen worked tirelessly,” Bubak said. “She put in a lot of overtime, a lot of hours putting this together.”
Matt Murphy, owner of Matt’s Metal Art in Woodbridge, said his booth saw customers from as far as Sacramento and Elk Grove who learned about the event on Facebook, as well as those who saw live coverage from FOX 40.
“I sold about 90 percent of my inventory: 80 garden stakes, the American flag that was on the news and about 70 mini-stakes,” Murphy said. “It was pretty windy, but overall it was a good time. I loved doing it.”
Pete Petersen, owner of Lockeford Sausage, said the fair drew the same strong sales to his booth — one of the event’s more popular food booths — along with increased exposure for his business.
“We serve all we can as fast as we can,” Petersen said. “For a one-day street fair Lodi is the best in California.”
Petersen also noted the event’s ideal location.
“The biggest thing you got going is Lodi is one of the nicest downtowns,” Petersen said. “I hear people all the time saying ‘Lodi’s the best.’ ”