FARMINGTON, Mo. — Several small business owners in St. Francois County are devastated after an accident at the fair over the weekend.
A helicopter hovered in the wrong area destroying their products and tents, according to a person familiar with the incident.
Cindy Bayless and Jessica Harris own the craft shop Cindy's Corner, and while the store in downtown Farmington is home base, they make a lot of their money at craft fairs and shows during the summer.
“The event time is what we depend on, to make our money to put it back to keep going during the winter time,” Bayless said.
They paid $320 to set up at the St. Francois County Fair, and before day two on Saturday even got started, their hard work was ruined.
“We were told there was supposed to be a helicopter show, I guess for kids or whatever. And for some reason, the helicopter landed in the field right next to everybody, all the tents,” Bayless said.
The family and owner of another small jewelry business Sadie's Vision were actually there when the tents and products were picked up and tossed around as the helicopter landed.
“We couldn't hold on to them, you know, ended up getting hurt in a couple different places. And we had to let go and ours went up a little bit and then slammed back down on us and then right on top of her, and it snapped the middle of the canopy,” said Sadie’s mom, Jennifer Boone.
Sadie Cazares, 15, said it was scary.
“It went from completely nice to just destroyed. And I just ended up bawling because I'm like I don't want to do it,” Cazares said.
Not only was it Sadie's first craft fair, it was also hard on her as she's had 13 eye surgeries making small jewelry projects intense.
“I'm not saying that she gets paid for her time, but this is something that was heartbreaking, even as her parent was just heartbreaking to watch her hard work be just thrown about like that,” Boone said.
The rotor wash also flung beads from Cindy's tent all over the fairground field.
“I'm just grateful that there were people there who were nice enough to help and pick up stuff and try to keep things cleaned up in an orderly manner,” Cindy’s business partner Jessica Harris said.
They unfortunately lost products, tents were destroyed and barely made enough money to cover their participation fee.
“I just hope they find out and figure out who did the wrong, have some accountability and replace people's items,” Bayless said.
In a statement, Chastity Corbin, the public relations and marketing chairperson for the fair, said the board "strives to create a safe and enjoyable experience for all fairgoers."
"On Saturday, a few hours before fair gates opened some vendor tents and merchandise were affected by a helicopter hovering in close proximity to a vendor area. Fortunately, there were no major injuries.
"Our board has been in contact with the vendors to offer replacement of their equipment and merchandise. We look forward to bringing our community together again next year for our 151st annual event," Corbin said.
Air Methods, the company that operated the helicopter, did not respond to a request for comment.
If you’d like to help out Sadie’s Vision, you can see her jewelry and Venmo information here.
Update on June 28, 2024: An earlier version of this article stated the helicopter landed. It has been amended to state the helicopter instead hovered.
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