Vendors return for another N.D. Winter Show

Vendors of all types offered their goods to the crowd at the first day of the North Dakota Winter Show Tuesday. This year the show features 175 vendors for the sixday show.

“We have everything from tools to jewelry and farm equipment to water softeners,” said Dawn Riley, manager of the Winter Show. “I’m told this is what brings a lot of people to the Winter Show.”

Several of the Winter Show’s vendors return year after year.

“This feels like home,” said Tom Mueller, owner of Dakota Belts in Jamestown. “I started here when I started crafting.”

Mueller said that was in 1985. Over the years he expanded the number of shows he attended each year to about 20. He currently attends five or six shows and concentrates on retail outlets in North Dakota and Arizona.

“But I look forward to the Winter Show each year,” he said.

The same is true for the sales staff at Schaffer Oil. They are being honored by the Winter Show for their long-term participation as a vendor.

“Our company probably started attending the Winter Show in the 1970s,” said Ben Marfell, an independent sales representative at the Schaffer Oil booth on Tuesday. “It is still a nice show to come to.”

Marfell said their sales at the Winter Show have declined over the years.

“Changes in agriculture make it less effective,” he said. “This is less intense when it comes to farming and has to compete with shows like Big Iron.”

Marfell said Schaffer Oil operates booths at about 24 shows each winter.

“All the farm shows this winter have been well attended,” said Kelly Melius, owner of Common Sense Manufacturing of Faulkton, S.D. “Farmers are doing pretty well and looking at new equipment.”

Melius’s company produces livestock-handling equipment, which it displayed at his booth. He has attended the Winter Show for about 10 years.

“Weather is always a big factor in any winter farm show,” he said. “It always seems like a mix at the Winter Show. A day or two of ice and snow and a few days when the parking lot is full of water.”

The Winter Show opened Tuesday and extends through Sunday.

In addition to the vendors, spectators can listen to free seminars and entertainment on the stage in the South Exhibit Building. Saturday brings the PRCA rodeo and the Craig Morgan concert in the Winter Show Main Arena.

Admission to the building and parking are free. Separate admission is charged for the rodeo and concert.

For a full schedule of events, visit the website www.northdakotawintershow.com.

Tags: local news, winter show, news