Jacob Dimond / jake@yelmonline.com
Any nerves surrounding the new venue for the Yelm Chamber of Commerce’s Nisqually Valley Spring Expo event on Saturday, April 26, and Sunday, April 27, were alleviated by the amount of community participation over the weekend.
Tina Richardson, executive director of Yelm’s Chamber of Commerce, told the Nisqually Valley News on Sunday, April 27, that she believes the first spring expo event at Yelm Middle School went well.
Whether patrons were just shopping or looking to support local businesses at their booths inside the school’s gymnasium, Richardson was thrilled to see the local community show up and show out at the 2025 Nisqually Valley Spring Expo.
“There’s been a lot of traffic, which has been amazing for us. We had two car shows, and we definitely loved that and the support from the community. We also had a lot of people show up for fun to participate in the fun run, too. There was a lot of excitement around people wanting to participate within the community,” Richardson said. “It’s been a lot of moving parts and running around, but it’s been a great weekend.”
The executive director added throughout the weekend she heard a lot of buzz and discussion regarding the energy and flow of the event from people in attendance. Though Richardson said she was a little nervous about the move from Yelm High School to YMS, she was pleased to see the overall success of the event.
“There was a little concern of being at the middle school at first, but based on feedback from different vendors, it’s been great. It’s right in the heart of town,” she said. “There’s roads all round, and the space and flow from the parking lot into the building — there’s no disconnect. The location has been a really wonderful change, and we appreciate Yelm Middle School for allowing us to use the facility for the weekend.”
Leading up to the annual event, local businesses began to generate buzz for the expo through a series of Facebook videos in regards to the “best decorated vendor” competition that occured at the event, including PTL Flooring, Tim’s Pharmacy and others.
“Vendors have been talking all day about winning. PTL, Tim’s Pharmacy, all of these vendors had some healthy, fun competitive nature. There’s a relationship between business owners and they bond together, and it’s created this fostering environment because they can have fun together,” Richardson said. “The interactions with the sign wars became this fun, competitive thing, and so many business owners wanted in on it. If anything, it fostered more community and more fun, and created this energy. We’re doing something fun because this is our community, and that was a big takeaway.
“It was a great time to watch everyone pull together and enjoy one another, and enjoy the moment,” she continued. “We really wanted to highlight Yelm. Not even Yelm, but some of the surrounding areas too to get a local feel. A lot of times in the past with the expo, we’ve had a lot of vendors come from afar — and that’s not bad — we still want to always have a space for that. But we never want to neglect the heartbeat of who we are in town and surrounding areas.”
Leading up to the event, Richardson said Yelm Chamber of Commerce was focused on shifting the focus of the Nisqually Valley Spring Expo back to businesses in Yelm and surrounding areas.
“A lot of the businesses here today, we tried to make sure we had a great number of Yelm and surrounding areas businesses represented. Not just people coming from Seattle or wherever. I feel like we met that goal,” Richardson said. “A lot of these businesses had to choose to not be where they’re normally at for their clientele. I’ll always be grateful for them showing up and supporting, and trying to partner with us in this way.”
