By Rachel Knight
Since 1979, the Greater Brazos Valley Builders Association has offered Brazos Valley citizens a uniquely fun opportunity to learn about home products and services by exploring the offerings of local businesses at the Home & Garden Expo. The 2019 Home & Garden Expo marks the 40th Anniversary of this entertaining event.
The original name of the Home & Garden Expo was Home Products Show. The name of the event changed from Home Products Show to Home & Garden Show in 2005. In 2008, the event moved from the Brazos Center on Briarcrest Drive to the Brazos County Expo Complex on Leonard Road, according to Rose Selman, executive officer of the GBVBA. Along with the move, the name changed from Home & Garden Show to what it is now — Home & Garden Expo. Though its name and location have changed over time, the purpose and basic workings of the event remain the same.
Selman says she believes it was the Heart of Texas Builders Association who helped provide information and ideas on how to add seminars to the Home & Garden Expo. “Seminars started in the early years of the show’s beginning to provide education to consumers as a part of our mission,” she says.
According to Roger Williams, a former president of the GBVBA and former owner of Southwest Homes, seminars at the Home & Garden Expo have been very popular since they were added to the event. “We used to have some really good seminars,” Williams recalls from his time working the Home & Garden Expo. “Seminars have become a big draw for the show. Those seminars would get really good participation. We really liked doing that.”
Seminars have not changed in nature since first introduced. They are still offered as a presentation from one or a panel of presenters comprised of various show exhibitors and local experts. Each seminar is focused on one subject. The short presentation is followed by audience participation in a question and answer segment. The seminars each last about an hour and are as diverse as the exhibitors at the show. Several years ago, a very successful partnership was formed with the Brazos County Master Gardeners who provide a wide variety of landscape and gardening seminars during the show.
Jason LaFollette, CEO of Southwest Homes, is an exhibitor at the Expo who hosts both a booth and a seminar each year. “I enjoy having the opportunity to talk to people about different things in our industry,” LaFollette says. “Even more enjoyable is the question and answer. Invariably, somebody has a good question that you haven’t even considered, so it’s a good opportunity for people to learn more about custom home building.”
The biggest change in the show from its beginning is the size of the Home & Garden Expo. The event moved from the Brazos Center to the Expo Complex because they needed more space for exhibitors, according to Betty Conlee Richter, a closing transaction coordinator for Zweiacker and Associates, former exhibitor at the Home & Garden Expo with Conlee Moving and Storage, and former GBVBA Home & Garden Expo committee member. She says the move brought more exhibitors and attendees alike.
“The first year we moved to the [Expo Complex], a lot of people had never seen the Expo,” Conlee Richter explains. “A lot of people came, yes to get their giveaways and freebies, but a lot of people came because it was an inexpensive way to see the Expo. We were one of the first big things at the Expo.”
The addition of the garden portion of the show in 2002 brought major growth to the event, according to Selman. Once the show moved to the Expo Center, the garden portion of the event continued growing.
“We set up a separate section because we had the room when we moved out to the Expo Center,” Williams says. “People would bring plants out and they would actually give them away. They had seminars out there on gardening and different things for decorating outside your home, lawn services. That got to be a pretty big separate section.”
The move to the Expo Center made the show less crowded, too, according to Conlee Richter. “When it was at the Brazos Center, it seemed a little more intimate probably because it was so darn crowded and we were all right there with each other,” she shares. “When it went to the Expo, it got to be more of a production. It’s still beneficial, and lots more people could show their wares.”
One of Conlee Richter’s favorite parts of the show in years past was seeing people she didn’t see anywhere else or any other time of the year. Because the GBVBA allows vendors to set up in the exact same spot each year, people who came to the show regularly knew where to find her exhibit. She also enjoyed the preview night for exhibitors and GBVBA members on the Friday night before the show.
Selman says the GBVBA will bring back the invitation-only preview night this year as a special way to celebrate 40 years of the Home & Garden Expo. The preview night will include a walk-through for guests, sponsors, and exhibitors to see each of the booths, hors d'oeuvres, beverages, and a silent auction with proceeds benefiting the St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital Dream Home in College Station.
Though the event is now 40 years old, the information presented at the event each year changes constantly to keep up with the most current home and gardening trends. “It’s always changing a bit so that people do want to come back and see what’s changed this year,” Conlee Richter says. “I think it’s a good product. Even if you go every year, you’re never disappointed. You always see something new.”
The Home & Garden Expo’s diverse offerings now include dog trainers, professional chef and gourmet cooking demonstrations, and other offerings from local businesses and organizations eager to share their wares and services. The 2019 Home and Garden Expo is Saturday, Feb. 9, from 9am to 5pm and Sunday, Feb. 10, from 11am to 4pm. Tickets are good for both days and can be purchased at the Brazos County Expo Complex Ticket Office 30 minutes before and during Home & Garden Expo show hours. Children 12 and under get into the show free, senior tickets for adults 65 and up are $3, and regular adult tickets are $5.
“It is very entertaining and educational,” LaFollette says. “It’s a collection of a bunch of local vendors and businesses. It’s a good way to see what’s offered throughout the community.”
