Faire
continued from page 1A
fluctuate, he’s made as much as
#1,500 profit in a single day. He
hauls his booth and all the goods to
more than 40 fairs a year.
“This all fits in my Firebird — I got
it down,” he said. “People look at me
and my booth and say ‘Damn!’”
He said working the street at the
University gives him a chance to
show his goods to students, who often
can’t afford more expensive jewelry.
“You get to talk to lots of pretty
girls, too,” he said.
Some people at the fair are just
starting out.
Knife vendor Mark Perkins said
he’s amazed at how many students
have stopped by his booth.
“It’s fun to see people walk by and
see these things — they glaze over,”
said Perkins, who added that this is
his first time at the fair.
He said it’s not just male students
who stop and look at his collection
of pocket knives, hunting knives,
samurai swords and battle axes.
“I had a 50- to 60-year-old lady buy
a halberd this morning,” he said, refer
ring to a massive battle ax more than
seven feet long. “She walked down the
street with it and you could just see
people moving out of her way.”
The knives drew constant ques
tions from passersby.
“May I hold this?” asked sopho
more Greg Starr as he eyed a
wicked double-bladed fighting knife.
Perkins nodded. The blademaster
said he’s already sold three-quarters
of his inventory and plans to do fu
ture fairs and events.
“I’ve always liked knives since I
was a kid,” he said. “To do this is a
little boy’s dream come true — sur
rounded by knives.”
Other vendors have full-time jobs
when not at their booths.
“This is just a hobby for me,”
sausage seller Ben Boekhorst said.
Boekhorst, a grader at Emerald
Forest Products who runs Wurst
Company of Oregon and sells chick
en, turkey and pork sausages, said
he makes litde money at the fair but
does it anyway.
“It’s nothing I can live off of, but
eventually I’d like to get a bigger
cart,” he said. “Maybe this could be
a retirement business.”
The ASUO Street Faire, a fund
raiser for the student organization
that nets #8,000 to #12,000, ends
today at 5 p.m.
Contact the news editor
atbrookreinhard@dailyemerald.com.
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