Local youth peddle their wares, learn about business at Solvang Veterans Memorial Building
For the third straight January, the Solvang Chamber of Commerce and Solvang Parks and Rec combined to provide an avenue for young Santa Ynez Valley residents to sell their homemade products, hone their budding business acumen, and for many display their creative talents.
The latest Jr. Entrepreneur Fair was held Jan. 17 at the Solvang Veterans Memorial Hall, the same site as the inaugural one in 2023. Last year, it returned to the Veterans Hall, and another Jr. Entrepreneur Fair was held in July during one of the city’s summer concerts at Solvang Park.
Solvang Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Tracy Beard said another fair is planned for summer again this year, and also during the Solvang Julefest in December, where “they can sell some neat holiday stuff.”
Among the participants in the latest fair were a familiar sibling duo. Finn and Maisie Curtis, were in the same spot and had the same cause as last year, giving out copies of Finn’s Santa Ynez Way magazine and seeking support for a theater project. However, that theater proposal has changed from a re-opening of the Parks Plaza Theater in Buellton to a new theater in downtown Solvang.
“Last year, we had the idea to open up the Parks Plaza Theater again, and I actually got together with people who wanted to buy the building,” Finn said. “However, that kind of fell through.”
However, Finn decided to keep the theater idea, but change it to a small complex somewhere in Solvang.
“I would like to get something in Solvang because it would be easier to get people in because of all the foot traffic they have in the downtown area,” he said. “In Buellton, they really don’t have many sidewalks because the main road is the highway. [In Solvang] it would be easier because of the tourists that come in, and we could find an existing building that’s already up to code, unlike the Parks Plaza Building, where it would cost some money to change things.”
While the Curtises were publicizing something that was still just a concept, many of the young entrepreneurs had products on the tables to sell, many of them made from scratch and reflecting hobbies and interests that inspired them.
Twelve-year-old Berkeley Brown is a fan of comics and and author Dav Pilkey, who is known for his series of books featuring characters like Dogman and Captain Underpants.
Berkeley had several stacks of homemade storybooks featuring his own characters, led by Trashman.
“I had heard about how some authors I read would just find a random object next to them and make a character out of it,” he said. “So when I decided to do that, first thing I saw was our trash can, so I created the character named Trashman. After that, all my character sort of spun off from him.”
Berkeley’s “books” are written multi-page stories (each connected with a single staple in the corner) with his ownillustrations on the front. In addition to Trashman, he has created characters like Heat Hawk, Space Kitty, and Judo, who he describes as a “tiger that knows karate.”
Next to Berkeley’s table, were a couple of friends — Joseph Brown and Mason Morton — who put their interest in 3D printing to good use. The two had a tableful of plastic products like wall outlets covers, figurines, keychains, and fidget contraptions. But their signature creation was a “marble run” that moved a marble up via a small conveyor belt and a path of gullets and ramps where the marble traveled to the bottom.
“I’ve been making stuff on the 3D printer for a couple years now,” Joseph said. “It was a small one and I got to print rings, and a year later I got one that prints four colors at a time, and then I got a better printer and was able to do better stuff.”
Among the other products being sold at the fair included baseball cards, orginal artwork, beaded bracelets.
Nine-year-old Levi Sanchez found an outlet for his artwork, selling T-shirts with the illustrations.
“I come up with these drawings, and then I send them to a website where I enter the designs and they print them on T-shirts and send them back to me,” Levi said. “Doing that helps you understand how there is money you need to spend in order to sell your stuff, and how you balance that with the money you charges for the product.”
Beard, took some time to address the crowd and participants, thanking them for coming to the event, and also handed out gift bags to all the young entrepreneurs with information on the Chamber of Commerce and gifts cards to be redeemed at local merchants. She also said there will be another Jr. Entrepreneur Fair this summer, with the date and location to be announced.
