May Hunt benefits from pleasant weather

The Downtown Arlington Business Association’s May Hunt sale drew two dozen vendors and a steady stream of shoppers and browsers to the Arlington city parking lot next to Legion Park on Saturday, May 11.

By Kirk Boxleitner • May 15, 2013 2:29 pm
May Hunt vendor Judy Smith looks on as first-time May Hunt customer Doris Keezer checks out her handmade wares on May 11.
May Hunt vendor Judy Smith looks on as first-time May Hunt customer Doris Keezer checks out her handmade wares on May 11.

ARLINGTON — The Downtown Arlington Business Association’s May Hunt sale drew two dozen vendors and a steady stream of shoppers and browsers to the Arlington city parking lot next to Legion Park on Saturday, May 11.

“This is exciting,” said Doris Keezer, a first-time May Hunt customer, as she checked out local vendor Judy Smith’s handmade wares. “There’s lots of good stuff here that’s giving me good ideas for my own handcrafts, and I need to see that Tupperware man,” she added as she wandered to the next tent.

Smith has been a regular at the May Hunt and October Hunt for the past three years, and this year saw her selling her mother’s embroidery and her daughter’s crocheting, along with an assortment of odds and ends.

“It’s just fun,” Smith said. “I like quilting things to sell, and I enjoyed making these little shoes, even if no one has bought any yet,” she laughed.

Since her family first moved to Arlington nine months ago, Jean Simpson has attended all of the city’s downtown activities and the May Hunt was no exception.

“We’re doing a bit of shopping for the other boys, who are doing yard work right now,” said Simpson, who professed a fondness for the work of the on-site scrapbookers, while her school-age son Grant bought himself a Hot Wheels car from Smith. “I love that this town utilizes this space for all these events, from the farmers’ markets to the parades. I haven’t missed a single one all year.”

“The Purse Lady” Debbie Whitis, who serves as secretary/treasurer for DABA and coordinates the May Hunt, characterized this year’s business as about the same as last year’s, which started slow but picked up in the afternoon.

“This event is always a big seller for me,” said Whitis, even as she acknowledged, “This is probably the best-kept secret in Arlington, because we have people who have lived in town 10-15 years and not heard about it.”

While this year’s vendors included one from Snohomish and another from Anacortes, Whitis explained that most May Hunt vendors are more local, although she sent invitations for this year’s May Hunt not only to previous May Hunt vendors, but also past vendors for the annual Street Fair and last year’s Arlington-Smokey Point Chamber of Commerce barbecue competition.

“We offer great products and a great way to spend a Saturday,” said Karen Ann Mattausch, a consultant for Cookie Lee.