Rich Komar Quotations

I wouldn't say our first year was a huge success, but it went all right. I sold all my booth spaces for $5 apiece and we filled up one gymnasium. We had maybe 30 or 40 exhibitors that year, who were mostly local retailers.

We've come a long way in 13 years. It's kind of overwhelming how popular this show got. When I started this, I basically went out and gave spaces away. It grew through word-of-mouth and some phone calls.

They know the profits from the show go back directly to the kids. It takes nine months to put a show together and we work hard. We work the phones and try to get word out. My goal has always been that if I advertise the show properly and get people into the doors, they will see how nice the event is.

I've had a trout pond set up in the school for 10 years. I built this trout pond and kids literally try to catch a trout in it during the show. It's pretty neat.