[caption id="attachment_610" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Beds for Kids Octoberfest"] [/caption] October ended this weekend and for the Big Red Crew, it was a good thing. Both the weekend and the month were disappointing. I was in Midlothian for the Beds for Kids Octoberfest. It is a new event, not only for us but for the charity too. Peggy got sick and had to cancel out at the last minute which left me working it alone.  That could have been a problem but as it turned out, it was OK. Unfortunately for both the Beds for Kids folks and Big Red, it was a slow day. I usually stay away from festivals and fairs, targeting my marketing at sporting events. But I only had one other event on Saturday and decided it was worth a try. [caption id="attachment_611" align="alignright" width="300" caption="What a Lollipop"] [/caption] And, it was a nice event, well run by some great people and has a nice future. But for the first year, it was a little on the smallish side for Big Red and it's high volume capability. So, I lost my shirt barely covering my gas cost. At the same time, Chuck, Ryan and Carl were working a JMU football game. With the Dukes season tanking, the attendance was way down as was our business. Sales were down over 30% from JMU's average and 40% from the early season high game. Not a bad game, just not what we've come to expect from our football program. [caption id="attachment_612" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Fried Rice Anyone?"] [/caption] The month started off great with two fabulous games at Liberty and our huge weekend at the Modified Races at Martinsville. Then ended with three disappointing weekends covering 2 JMU games, Bridge Day, the Cup Races at Martinsville and this weekend. Actually, for the month, sales were up 35% from last year. But with the way the month started, I was looking for a 50-60% increase. This week, I hope to have two events.  We'll be back at Liberty for a game on Saturday manned by Tank, Laura, Mark and Jean (coming back from her stint on the injured reserve list). Peggy, Chuck, Ryan and I will be in Richmond for the Craftsmen Classic Show, I hope.  It's pencilled in on my calandar, but not confirmed yet. And it is going to take some major maneuvering of equipment and assets to pull it off. Should be a very interesting week.