Eastwood home, garden expo packed with vendors, people today

NILES

If you’re looking for signs that the economy is improving, you might find them at this weekend’s annual Mahoning Valley Home and Garden Show at the Eastwood Expo Center. Attendance for the three-day show is expected to reach record levels — good news for the 150 exhibitors, also a record number.

“We’re completely sold out with exhibitors and all of them have committed to come back next year,” said Dominic Baragona, show organizer, as he observed the large crowd Saturday afternoon. “I think people are starting to see their way clear to buy something [because] they are more optimistic.”

Another reason for the large attendance is free admission for the first time in the show’s 22-year history. Baragona said sold-out sponsorship was the reason. “We’ve had so many sponsors come forward and I just decided the Valley needs a break,” he said.

Many of the exhibitors echoed Baragona’s sentiments about the reviving economy, including some who previously had not displayed their products in the show. Those included pianos and organs of Top Shelf Music, Boardman, whose operator, Mark Plegge, said the show led to the sale Saturday morning of a Lowrey Majesty organ valued at $30,000 to a buyer he described as a senior citizen.

“The show’s already a success for me,” Plegge said.

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