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KENNEWICK -- Brandie Riedinger was on a mission Saturday at the Benton Franklin Fair & Rodeo to enter as many drawings and collect as much free stuff as possible.
Not shy about her intent, the 20-year-old Kennewick woman would walk right up to a booth and ask, "What do you guys do?"
Riedinger listened to each vendor as they wooed her with their wares and offers for service. And slowly, her complimentary tote bag filled with candy, lollipops, pens, squishy balls and paper fans for political candidates.
Some swayed her with their sales pitch, but often it was the lure of more freebies that kept Riedinger, boyfriend Ryan Anderson and friend Ty Schoenwald moving on to the next booth.
They call themselves "swag hunters."
"That's the best part of the fair, trying to collect as much as you can," Riedinger said.
"We didn't have anything going on today and we said it's the last day of the fair," added Anderson, 24, who purposefully left his money at home so he wouldn't be tempted to buy all the merchandise.
Vendors want to make a sale, but many will admit what's equally important is getting their business name out there. That is where marketing comes into play, and events like the annual fair are the perfect location to display goods before a large number of potential consumers.
At the SK Real Estate booth inside the vendor hall, a large Char-Broil gas grill caught the eye of thousands of people over the fair's run. Every day, about 500 people reportedly would drop their entry into the box with the hope they would get a call Monday that they're the lucky winner.
Realtor Ruben Martinez knows the barbecue drawing attracts more people to the booth than the property listings, but once at the table, some realize they may have a question about mortgages or putting their house on the market.
"You never know. One or two or three sales out of this, and it's worth it," said Martinez, who was passing out pens and sticky pads with SK Real Estate contact information.
That pen may not mean much now to the consumer, but Martinez says there is always the possibility that one day a person who is considering buying or selling property may be using the pen and remember getting it at the fair. And that could lead to a business transaction for Martinez or one of his colleagues.
Riedinger said every year she tries to win a barbecue, but has yet to get the congratulatory call.
Saturday, her group took turns in the Charter Communications "Cashbox" trying to grab fake money from the air while it was blowing around them. They had 30 seconds to stuff as many dollar bills into their shirts and pant pockets.
Once the fair wrapped up Saturday night, Charter employees planned to tally the results and award a Nintendo Wii game console to first place, a Sony kitchen CD player to second and an Apple iPod to third. The leader with about nine hours left in the day was a person who was able to hold onto 53 bills.
Crystal Moore of Charter Media said they offered the game as a way "to draw people in," and the crowds quickly gathered each time someone was zipped up in the plastic box. The booth was in exchange for giving the Benton Franklin Fair promotional ads on TV, she said.
After snapping some video inside the box, Riedinger, Anderson and Schoenwald, 18, moved on to a booth to pick up a latex balloon. Next stop was The Chan Institute of Health & Wellness for a free spinal check.
"I'm slightly uneven," Riedinger discovered, after Schoenwald did it twice "to see how crooked my back is."
Riedinger said she grew up showing her rabbits at the fair for 4-H. She retired last year, so this year was all about fun.
But it was during her youth that she perfected her skills at collecting fair swag.
"I do it every year. I would usually hit up the stuff like twice a day, with my 4-H uniform on and then my street clothes on so I looked different," she said.
Both Riedinger and Schoenwald say they have collections now gathered in their homes.
"I have like this box related to fair stuff. I forget about it later on in life," she said, recalling the cowboy hat and bottles of hand sanitizer in that box.
Schoenwald said on several occasions they've gone "just to see how much stuff we could get in our hair." That included pens, combs and clips, like the kind used to close a chip bag.
"It's kind of cool for a few days ... but really it just gets forgotten," Schoenwald said.
However, it wasn't so easy for the trio to walk away from the Massaging Insoles booth.
"Feel my sole," Eileen Ronning encouraged as she held out an insole filled with 100 percent pure glycerin. Ronning and husband Dan, sales representatives who work from their Kennewick home, said sales were down a bit with the economy but added that 95 percent of the people who try on the insoles buy them because "they work real well."
Riedinger loved them so much she couldn't take them out of her ballet flats. Anderson was also sold on the product.
"I just want to keep walking," Riedinger said, while dancing in the aisle. "I'm buying them. My feet have been hurting for several days."
Finally, Riedinger was impressed enough to make a purchase, and left the booth with two sets of insoles in her bag of swag.
