The 2019 Casino Royale Carthage Business Expo and Home Show is officially in the books. Friday and Saturday, March 8th and 9th many of you joined us for an amazing weekend of shopping the businesses, products, and services that Carthage and the surrounding communities have to offer. I know that those of you who were there were as impressed as I was by what there was to see and do this year. Our exhibitors really brought their A games in terms of displays, decorations, activities, and give-aways.
Of course, we had the make-over from Dr. Fly’s Salon that we gave away but we also had the opportunity to give away too many booth prizes to count. The bottle auction featuring secret, surprise prizes from a selection of area businesses was a hit again this year bringing an extra bit of fun and a healthy amount of competition to the lobby.
Congratulations to the winners of the booth contests. Ajinomoto Windsor took “Best Representation of Member Business” for their signs featuring their delicious brands and samples galore throughout the weekend. Thanks to their giant dice and casino style games, Southwest Missouri Bank won “Best Use of Theme”. Rounding out the event’s winners, ServPro was voted “People’s Choice”, no doubt due to their arm-wrestling main event, slot machine, poker chips counting game, and adorable decoration on their filter units.
There were a gigantic variety of nibbles to choose from this year too. Ajinomoto Foods served up piping hot fried goodies all weekend. My personal favorite was the bacon gouda mac and cheese bites! I don’t think much time went by on Saturday without Domino’s bringing a fresh batch of pizzas through the front door, the smell of kettle corn permeated the air from The Popcorn Guy’s booth, and Honey Pot Catering hit both the sweet tooth with their mini cheesecakes and savory with their scrumptious chips and dip. Tin Cup Bistro was showing off their brand-new fair and serving up delicious house roast coffee. Carthage Nazarene helped us wash down all of our snacks with their tea bar and coffee drink choices. We are lucky to have so many yummy restaurants and food services to choose from!
Other highlights included chair massages, photo booths with props, beautiful home displays that I know got lots of us dreaming about home improvements, shopping for everything from new sunglasses to big shiny mowers, and lots of give-aways that filled our goodie bags. If you’re feeling a little blue that you weren’t available to join us for this year’s show, mark us down for early spring next year. We’ll be back!
Thanks again to our Spotlight Sponsors Mercy Hospital Carthage, SNC Squared, and Travel Inspirations, Business After Hours Sponsors Carthage Marine Transport, Halo Salon, and J Builders, and the Fathers of the CRM for helping us to offer the Business Expo and Home Show to our community. Visit carthagechamber.com to see what’s coming up next.
