‘Supporting businesses that support us’
Women’s Expo and ECFE continue helping one another
Over 90 booths were set up for Saturday's Women's Expo. Photo by Dylan Jackson
Jaime Hernandez (left) Tiana Espino (middle) and Erin Hernandez (right) worked their Top Hat Candle Co. booth for the Women's Expo at Jefferson Elementary School. Photo by Dylan Jackson
Shoppers at the Women's Expo checked out the Scholastic book fair that was going on simultaneously. Photo by Dylan Jackson
Shoppers filled the hallways of Jefferson Elementary School for the Women's Expo on Saturday. Photo by Dylan Jackson
Over 90 booths were set up for Saturday's Women's Expo. Photo by Dylan Jackson
Jaime Hernandez (left) Tiana Espino (middle) and Erin Hernandez (right) worked their Top Hat Candle Co. booth for the Women's Expo at Jefferson Elementary School. Photo by Dylan Jackson
Shoppers at the Women's Expo checked out the Scholastic book fair that was going on simultaneously. Photo by Dylan Jackson
Shoppers filled the hallways of Jefferson Elementary School for the Women's Expo on Saturday. Photo by Dylan Jackson
Trending
NEW ULM - The New Ulm Women's Expo and Craft Fair gave residents yet another way to spend their weekend, coinciding with Minnesota firearms deer opener and New Ulm's shopping opener.
Jefferson Elementary School, which has hosted the Expo for around 20 years, opened its door once again to community shoppers.
This year, 20 new vendors set up shop at the school, contributing to the 90 total booths set up, which is more than last year's amount.
"We were able to add in some folks from the area who have new shops they've created or have never attended," Director of Early Childhood Programs for New Ulm Public Schools Ashley Genelin said.
The proceeds that come from vendor rental fees go towards Early Childhood Family Education.
"Our goal is to get the community here supporting the businesses who are supporting us, and to be together and do some good shopping," Genelin said.
Terri Maine and her husband have been coming to the Women's Expo from Madison Lake for five years to sell their crafts, which consist of snowman and grinch figures, gnomes, and more.
"My husband and I make things together, Maine said. "We only do a couple shows, one in New Ulm and one in Cleveland, Minnesota."
They enjoy the friendly people who visit their booth.
Jaime Hernandez had a stand for his company Top Hat Candle Co. which he created in 2022.
He has been participating in the Women's Expo for almost as long.
"I've been in the same spot several years in a row so a lot of our customers know where to find us," Hernandez said. "It's always a really great event for us."
Vendors are not the only booths set up at the Women's Expo. New Ulm Medical Center had a stand providing health care information to families. They had a list of new providers accepting patients, one of whom was present.
Dr. Emily Horn, who is one of the new family doctors at New Ulm Medical Center, said that the Women's Expo was a great place to get information out because women are usually the ones who deal with the family healthcare.
All areas of Jefferson Elementary got involved during the Women's Expo, including the library which holds their Scholastic book fair alongside the Expo every year.
"We get huge support for the library," Washington Learning Center Librarian Angela Hoek said. "Proceeds from this get invested in more books for the library and encourage reading."
Money from the book fair helps fill the library's book vending machine. Jefferson Librarian Heidi Wilker said every kid at Jefferson earns a token that allows them to get a free book from the vending machine each year.