Food sampling is returning to this year's Merchant Showcase at Three Rivers College, where pet lovers also will have a chance to bring their dogs for training sessions to raise funds for a downtown dog park.
In its 38th year, the Merchants Showcase is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Bess Activity Center on the TRC campus. It is sponsored by the Greater Poplar Bluff Area Chamber of Commerce, TRC and its Collegiate DECA.
"I think it is exciting for us to be able to offer an opportunity for our businesses to present what they have to offer to over a 1,000 people in a four-hour period," explained chamber President Steve Halter.
Most companies and organizations, he said, do not have the opportunity to reach that many people "just sitting at their place of business on a Saturday for four hours."
Halter said some new things "we are having this year that are exciting, we're having an indoor food sampling area. Years ago, we used to have an outdoor food tent."
Martha Kirkman, DECA sponsor, described this year's area as a "small version" of what used to be offered.
"We're bringing it inside, and visitors can, when they enter the showcase, they will be given a ticket, and that ticket gives them one entrance into that area," Kirkman said.
Once inside, she said, visitors will sample "some of the new products vendors and grocery stores are selling to their customers."
Kirkman said the event sponsors also are partnering this year with Downtown Poplar Bluff, which is bringing in a "opportunity for dog lovers" to bring their pets to do sessions in agility, tricks and obedience. The cost is $30.
The SEMO Kennel Club and Linda Kush with Sit and Stay Boarding have volunteered their services for the event, which "allows us to make it a fundraiser for the downtown dog park," said Jerica Fox, executive director of Downtown Poplar Bluff.
The $30 cost, Fox said, is for all three workshops, which is "typically a $100 value. It will (run) the length of the showcase from 10 to 2."
The training is "something different for pet owners" to do with their family and dogs, Kirkman said.
Also returning this year, Kirkman said, is the Poplar Bluff Fire Department's fire safety house, which will be available for children to go through.
"It's been a couple of years since they've been able to attend" Kirkman said. "It will allow the parents and children to learn about fire safety and what to do in case of a fire."
In addition to the new and returning activities, "we are going to have a full array of different businesses and organizations inside" the Bess Activity Center, said Halter, who anticipates between 60 and 70 will be set up.
The number of booths, which are sold in part by TRC's professional selling class students, is about the same as in years past, said Kirkman, who indicated a lot of different products and services will be available.
"Of course, we will be doing hourly drawings; $100 every hour the showcase is open," Kirkman said. "Paying the $1 admission gives you an entry into those drawings."
Proceeds from the event, Halter said, will go to help the DECA students.
Kirkman said her and Julie Decker's DECA students help put the showcase together each year.
In addition to the students who sell the booths, students in the advertising class work with the chamber to come up with ideas to promote the event.
The supervisory development class is made up of sophomores, who have "been through one showcase," Kirkman said. "They help oversee (everything) like any supervisor would oversee a department in an organization."
Those students, she said, help coordinate the various committees to make sure the "showcase runs smoothly and effectively."