LAKEPORT — The Lake County Home and Garden Expo is coming to the Lake County Fairgrounds April 19 and 20. The event is sponsored by the Lake County Record-Bee and newly co-sponsored this year by Akeena Solar.
More than 50 companies are listed to present home and garden-themed exhibits at the third annual event. They include such companies as Mendo Mill, Gossett Alarm, The Kitchen Gallery, Tri-Valley Carpet, Lakeport Furniture and Sandi”s Interiors, among others. A total of 73 booths and exhibits are currently planned. With logistics still being worked out after Tuesday”s deadline to sign up, the number may increase.
“The response from vendors for the third annual Home and Garden Expo has been tremendous. The show spaces are very close to being sold out. It”s a sign that the expo has been an asset for local businesses to showcase their particular expertise,” Lake County Record-Bee Advertising Director Christine Hammers said.
Chris Frye, North Bay regional manager for Akeena Solar, said his interest in the expo started when he was an exhibitor at last year”s event.
“It was very successful for us. We got a lot of business as a result of being at the Lake County home and garden show last year,” Frye said.
Fry owned the solar energy company Alternative Energy at the time, which he sold to Akeena Solar a week later. Akeena Solar is still determining what exhibits it will have at the expo, according to Frye. One he is sure of is a 22-foot truck equipped with enough solar panels to provide 2.5 kilowatts of electricity, enough to power an approximately 1,300 square-foot home.
Fry said he is also an engineer, and will be on hand with other qualified Akeena Solar staff to answer any questions onlookers pose as they look, touch and interact with the exhibit. Depending on safety and logistics, the truck will also be available to food vendors needing electricity, Frye said.
“The whole idea is to lower the carbon footprint of the event itself,” Frye said.
As a co-sponsor, Akeena Solar can sublet space to other vendors. The only taker so far is the Windsor company California Powersave, which makes a device that Frye said can reduce an electric bill by 10 to 20 percent. Frye said he expects to have more energy-efficient companies subletting by show time.
Exhibits will be inside and around Fritch and Lewis halls at the Lake County Fairgrounds. The Akeena Solar truck will be one of the first things visitors see as they come through the main entrance, according to Frye.
Admission is free, and supervised parking on the grounds is also available at no cost, according to Hammers.
“We”re looking forward to a great family event,” Hammers said.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com.
