Check out what’s newfor the homeand garden
You may love your home just as it is. Ormaybe not. If youare looking for changes or are even planning to build a custom home, the Cy-Fair Home & Garden Show aims to stir the imagination.
“People come to our show because they want to do something with their home, but they might not know what,” said Tony Wood, president of the event’s producer, Texwood Shows Inc.
The show will be from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Feb. 27, and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Feb. 28 at the Berry Center, 8877 Barker Cypress.
Tickets are cash only and cost $9 for adults, and $8 for senior adults. Children under age 13 attend for free. Parking is available without charge.
Wood said this will be ninth year for the show in Cypress. He started producing homeand-garden shows in The Woodlands 14 years ago.
“It made sense to expand to an area adjacent to The Woodlands,” he said. “The market is there, and there’s a really nice facility, the Berry Center, with all kinds of parking.”
Since starting the show, the Cypress community has expanded, Wood said.
“More people are moving to the area; there’s a growing population,” he said. “Cy-Fair is starting to get fairly hip. It’s really starting to blossom. You’ve got more businesses out there and more restaurants.”
The Cy-Fair show has grown and changed over the years.
“We’re always trying to make it better — bringing in even better vendors and products,” Wood said.
The biggest development was the addition of a farmers and artisans market to the front of the show.
“We also added landscapers and garden vendors outside,” Wood said. “We have a ton of outdoor exhibitors that we did not have the first couple of years. It’s just more stuff for people to see and enjoy.”
New exhibitors focus on history, cooking
This year’s lineup includes a number of new exhibitors, including Save Texas History, an exhibit by the state’s General Land Office.
“They’ll be selling historic maps,” Wood said. “You can see Texas the way it used to look. The maps are very cool.”
Continuing the Lonestar State theme is the “Texas Room,” presented by Sunspace Texas to showcase its Weather Master Plus stacking door system.
The custom-designed doors, meant to enclose sunrooms or covered patios, can be quickly closed when needed, Wood ex- plained.
This year’s show will also feature a new indoor cooking stage, complete with demonstrations by chefs from local restaurants, including Dario’s American Cuisine, Marvino’s Italian Kitchen and Alicia’s Mexican Grille, as well as Berry Center chef Lisa Pratt.
The Black Olive Grill Outdoor Cooking Stage will showcase wood pellet grills.
“It’s like cooking with wood but with the convenience of gas,” Wood said.
Randy Lemmon, host of the Garden-Line radio program on news radio 740 KTRH, will attend to discuss his new book, “Texas Tough Gardening with Randy Lemmon.”
Foundation to man booth at the show
The Cy-Fair Educational Foundation, which provides scholarships for students, will have a booth, executive director Marie Holmes said.
The foundation also raises funds for staff development grants, giving about $100,000 annually.
Holmes said that the organization grants more than $325,000 in scholarships as well.
“This is just a great opportunity given to us by the Home and Garden Show,” Holmes said. “It is their way to give back to the CyFair community.”
Wood said that the show is an ideal place to research homerenovation projects.
“You’re going to talk to a lot of home improvement professionals,” Wood said.
“They’re promoting the newest and best of what they do. It’s a place to get educated — and it really is a lot of fun.”