The first booth was promoting the products of Stone Wood Crafts based in Minden, Louisiana. Robin Stone and his wife Stefanie were displaying dozens of cutting boards, wall décor, knife holders and drink coasters.  

Robin Stone said “Everything that we make is handmade from a lot of exotic woods, a lot of African, South American as well as domestic woods. We do your end grain cutting boards. We do charcuterie boards, all types of serving trays, knife blocks. Your magnets are inside of the wood itself.” 

The Stones were complimentary of their experience at last year’s Watermelon Festival. “We came last year and had a wonderful experience. It got to the point that nobody could even make a sale because there were so many trying to do it at one time. But when all was said and done, it was wonderful. Everybody was happy. People made money. People got things they wanted. It was good, very good,” Robin Stone said. 

The Stones’ booth is near the southwest corner of the coliseum. Just across the aisle was Christy’s Crafts. Jim Hay was in charge of the booth, which sells his wife Christy’s microwave bowl cozies among other things, including bird houses, squirrel feeders and carpenter bee traps made with recycled wood and old state license plates. 

The cozies are in a variety of unique and colorful designs. “They're made to go in the microwave with your bowl so you don't burn your hands on a hot bowl,” Jim Hay said. 

The Hays have been making Watermelon Festival attendance a habit, Jim Hay said. “This is our fourth year here, first year inside of you that we're out in the barn. Every year we come back. We enjoy the festival, enjoy the show.” 

In the southeast corner of the coliseum, Hannah Whisenhunt from Ozan was present at her booth. Her business is Wildfire Farms, which grows organic hemp.  “We grow everything in an indoor facility. We are the only organic hemp farm in the state of Arkansas, and we use our hog manure to fertilize it. We have a hog farm right beside it,” Whisenhunt said. 

Her booth had an abundance of different items starting with t-shirts, topical creams, hemp edibles, hemp soaps and various CBD oils for various needs. “We’re just trying to heal everybody that we can. Feed the world and heal the world," she said.