The show goes on

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

It really says something about the Merrimack business community that the Merrimack Fall Festival and Business Expo is so important that when Dave McCray said he wouldn’t be able to do it this year, there was a bit of an outcry.

McCray, despite knee problems that he thought would keep him from leading the planning of the show, is ready to go, primarily because residents just weren’t about to let the Expo skip a year and offered McCray so much help, and so much enthusiasm, that he decided that knee issues wouldn’t keep him down.

We’re not surprised. It’s hard to keep McCray down.

McCray said he was surprised at the enthusiasm for the Expo, but we’re not.

“I didn’t think people were that caught up in it,” he told our Jake Berry.

But they are, they are. Merrimack has a very vibrant business community that knows the importance of something on the order of an Expo. Doing business might bring in the day-to-day customers, but promoting business is what really keeps business alive. Merrimack, and its very active Chamber of Commerce, know that.

As Deb Courtemanche, the chamber’s executive director said, “In the span of one day, the number of people the businesses can reach . . . it’s of great benefit to the businesses in the Merrimack area.”

Absolutely, and businesses know that better than anyone, as McCray quickly found out. When he thought he couldn’t do it, he contacted town businesses to gauge interest and within a day, he said, he’d heard from 60 of them and a few days later, from 30 more. Obviously, interest is high.

And we’re not surprised.

As Courtemanche said, it is so much easier to reach potential customers at an Expo.

The other thing about this one is that it’s fun. This isn’t just business people pushing their products, these are local folks who want to enjoy themselves and who want visitors to have fun, too.

And you will.

The Expo is planned for Oct. 1 in the town center. Put it on your calendar now. This is a date you don’t want to forget.