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Photo by Sam Yu
David and Melissa Kalmbach hold a wax hand just made at their Wax Hands and Heart Lites Handcrafted Candles booth at The Great Frederick Fair on Thursday. Their booth is located outside Building 7. |
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Mom and pop operations that sell items for as lowas $5 are as welcome at The Great Frederick Fair as large companies that want to sell a $250,000 combine.Heart Lites, a Martinsburg, W. Va.-based wax and candle business, is making its first appearance at the fair and owners David and Melissa Kalmbach said they couldn't be more pleased with the reception they've had. "It's been a very good experience, it's been profitable and enjoyable," said David Kalmbach. "The Good Lord willing, we'll do it again next year, and that's a good thing to be able to say before the fair is over." The Kalmbachs have attended fairs for many years in West Virginia. Then someone suggested they try out The Great Frederick Fair. One popular Heart Lites item is for making hand prints using wax. For $7, youngsters dip their hand in a bucket of liquid wax and other chemicals and voila -- a solid print of their hand is made they can take home. Heart Lites candles, made with soy wax, burn for 50 hours, Melissa Kalmbach said. It is not a petroleum product and, therefore, produces no soot, she said. Middletown resident Gary Hatch said the fair has been worth the time and money he spent to display his one-year old temporary tattoo and T-shirt engraving business. "I've covered my cost, that's the No. 1 thing," Hatch said. "It's been good weather, great people and a lot of fun." Hatch's Air Designs encourages customers to shock their friends with painless, temporary tattoos. And he also offers advice: tattoos are expensive and painful; worse, they're permanent. "What you want at 17 isn't what you want at 27 or 57," Hatch said. "What looks good on us changes with age and circumstance." Hatch said people get temporary tattoos for special days, occasions and holidays, sporting events, dances, birthday parties. The company does also does corporate events and bar mitzvahs. Martinsburg, W. Va.-based Sportsbag Unlimited has attended the fair for years, salesman Jerry Wachter said. "Yes, it's been worth coming," Wachter said, "but you can't say anything about whether it been profitable this year until it's over." The company sells hats, T-shirts, throw covers, belt buckles and some jewelry. "I tell you, I enjoy doing this. You meet people you haven't seen for years," Wachter said.
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