By Jim Newell
Review Editor
The 2017 Flower & Art Fair in May brought nearly 6,000 visitors to the Village of Lake Orion over a two-day period and raised more than $12,000 for a local charity.
The fair also generated a 99 percent satisfaction rate from vendor feedback, said Molly LaLone, executive director of Downtown Development Authority.
LaLone released the final stats from the May 12-13 fair, which had 11 local sponsors, 11 performers (most local) and raised $12,750 for Playhouse for a Purpose, hosted by Real Estate Gives.
The proceeds from the sale of three children’s playhouses went to three local nonprofits focused on children: The Daisy Project, Love INC of North Oakland County and Oxford Early Learning Center.
Each of the nonprofits created a unique playhouse with 100 percent of the proceeds distributed among them, LaLone said.
Jennifer Meier, owner of Green Hippo Gifts on the corner of Broadway and Flint streets, was right in the middle of the fair.
“We had a lot of new people coming in, so that was helpful. It was a really good weekend. It was a lot of fun. I heard that people came from an hour away, from Romulus,” Meier said.
Meier said the DDA improved upon past Flower Fairs, keeping the shop owners informed and offering some table placement options and parking passes to get shop owners closer to their businesses.
“They did a lot better job communicating this year, and a better job advertising. It’s great to have an event that brings more people,” Meier said.
Other statistics from this year’s event included: 95,941 vehicles per day saw the fair billboard on M-24; a special section in the Ad-Vertiser went out in 25,800 newspapers; and a full-page ad in The Lake Orion Review reached 2,300 households, plus newsstand sales.
Orion Neighborhood Television also featured two spots on its YouTube channel (373 average visitors per month), and reached 23,000 households from its live general audience broadcasts.
On the web: www.downtownlakeorion.org.