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Home Show draws a crowd

Thousands were drawn to the Albion Fairgrounds in Maple Ridge on Saturday to check out the Ridge Meadows Home Show.
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More than 20 thousand people visited last weekend’s Ridge Meadows Home Show, including Liberal leader Christy Clark.

The incumbent premier stopped by Sunday, two days before the provincial election, and greeted those in attendance, including local politicians.

Home Show coordinator Cass Winder, however, credited sunny weather for the great turnout at this year’s event.

It featured more than 350 vendors at Planet Ice, Golden Ears Winter Club and Albion Fairgrounds.

“You look at shows like our’s on the basis of two things: the number of exhibitors and the attendance,” Winder said.

“And every few years Mother Nature steps in and shows us she’s a worthy adversary.”

Weeks of rain made conditions outside tough for organizers to work around, as the area by the stage where food trucks were parked was muddy.

But tarps and wood panels were put down and made a difference.

“It poured rain right up to and including on Friday, Winder said.

“Most home shows probably pray for bad weather because it drives everyone inside, but we actually increase attendance during good weather.”

It was warm and dry on Sunday, as Clark helped build a birdhouse with her son, Hamish, and some young kids at one of the workshops.

Winder said Clark’s visit wasn’t too challenging logistically, and the Home Show was happy to host the Liberal campaign.

“She is a very amiable, social person and she does this better than almost any politician,” Winder said of Clark.

“She’s very engaging and friendly. It wasn’t a disruption, they were organized and so were we.”

Winder added that parking for the Home Show in the future should be aided by a new proposal for new turf fields throughout Maple Ridge, and not in Albion as originally proposed.

“We were really impressed the city was able to come up with a win-win plan that doubles the number of synthetic fields and still left parking for us and the various other events and field users.”

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