NEWS PHOTO MO CRANKER
Eight-year-old Scarlytte Patterson gets her face painted by Katie Jensen Saturday afternoon during the annual Sunshine Home and Garden Show. The event drew around 10,000 people this year.
mcranker@medicinehatnews.com@MHNmocranker
Despite a fire evacuation on Saturday, the annual Sunshine Home and Garden Trade Show had thousands pass through its doors.
The event ran from Friday to Sunday at the Medicine Hat Exhibition and Stampede, with a small electrical fire starting around 5:15 p.m. According to the Medicine Hat and District Chamber of Commerce, the fire was contained to a mechanical room in the far side of the auditorium. No booths were impacted by the fire.
“We were notified by the Stampede that there was a fire and we needed to evacuate,” said executive director Lisa Kowalchuk. “We got on our PA system and we implemented our emergency response plan.
“It’s one of those things you don’t necessarily think you’re going to need, but we were thankful that we were prepared to deal with this.”
Saturday’s show was scheduled to close at 6 p.m., the event show was shut down completely for the night because of the fire.
The show reopened for 11 a.m. Sunday, with free admission for everyone in the community.
“We quickly partnered up with the Medicine Hat Exhibition and Stampede to make sure admission was free Sunday,” said Kowalchuk. “We know not everyone was able to fully enjoy the show, so it was important to us to open the doors for free.”
Kowalchuk says she is really proud of the way the situation was handled by everyone.
“It’s not something you come across during a typical event,” she said. “The co-operation and co-ordination of everyone involved was exceptional.”
Trade show manager Chantelle Legault says the event aims to have selection for as many people as possible.
“We want there to be something for everyone,” she said. “About one third of the vendors are on the home and garden side of things – the other two thirds are basically anything.
“We have booths that offer things for people of all ages.”
