# Report: Provident Living Preparedness Fair



## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

Saturday August 28 there was a PrepFair hosted at a local LDS church. I will admit, it was my first time in an LDS church, but, I wasn't preached to, so, I was alright with that part.

There was loads of parking and right near one of the entrances was a "booth" of sorts setup. The table was setup with loads of outdoor cooking gear with a live demonstration of cooking with briquettes in a dutch-oven. The gentleman was making an upsidedown-cake in the dutch oven. He lined the cast-iron with tin-foil, poured in the batter then set it on the coals and heaped the extra coals onto the lid and then just sat back to wait it out and chat with those passing by about the ovens.

Inside the first door there were a couple food displays with one being hosted by Briden Solutions and there were cans of the freeze-dried foods there stacked all nice and neat with samples put out for people to try. Across the walk way was a lady showing products from Mumms - seeds designed just for sprouting. I tried some sprouted fennel-seeds - tasted kind of like black licorice.

Walking down the hall-way I came to another display-area with very little in it - but - there was one memorable item in there for me, and, that was a machine that allowed a person to make their own #10 cans!!

The next room was filled with interesting displays. One guy had his BOB's (*B*ug *O*ut *B*ags) spread out across 5 tables in an L-shape. From the section closest to the door to the room he had a FannyPack-BOB opened up with the gear spread out so that people could see what was all packed. Next was a small back-pack based BOB, a car BOB and so on and so forth till you got to the end of the last table. It had stoves, propane, lights, etc all on the table and a 3600w propane-powered Generator on the floor.

The next table over had a guy displaying his water-purification and water-usage systems. He even had this tiny-little hand-powered washing machine that could wash a couple of shirts, underwear and socks.

The final guy in the room had communication systems spread out on a table, from basic "kid" walkie-talkies to the full-out ham-radio setup.

There was a room that had kid-friendly stuff including a puppet-show done by a representative from BlockParents teaching kids how to be safe and how to find a safe-place if there was trouble.

I didn't stay long with the puppet-show so I headed to the next section where there were tables setup with home-made snacks, three ladies spinning wool into yarn (or hand-carding the wool), an EMS, a Fire and a Police display where you could talk to reps from those city essential-service departments. Also in that room was another Briden Solutions display where I had a chance to chat with the owners for a while. They had a few of the water-storage-solution tanks, water-filters, food-storage containers (even some really funky-cool square stackable containers with GammaSeal lids). I found out that they have expanded way beyond their initial expectations and will be setting up a warehouse and store-front! Congratulations to them!!!

I believe that I was able to visit all the displays and chat with many of the people who took time to share their knowledge and wares (and yummy food!) with people wandering through.

Now - a couple of thoughts that could make it better (_that is if the organizers would ever see this report_):

If this becomes a regular thing, I think that putting up better signage on the roads nearby pointing people in the right direction with visual-aids showing what is happening.

Moving the PrepFair out of a "church" environment to a "community-center" environment could make non-church-goers feel a little more comfortable without having the feeling that they would be preached at. I wasn't preached at, but, I can see how the concern could be there.

Have multiple PrepFairs in each quadrant of the city four weekends in a row (ie: first weekend in the NW, second in the NE, third weekend in the SE and finally in the SW). The far NorthEast location of this PrepFair meant that people living in the far SouthWest would have an hour drive to get there. Yes, I did invite some people from the deep-south to the fair. I don't know if they even arrived.

Finally - advertise the PrepFair on the radio "community events" calendar leading up to the fair. I would have never known about this event if it wasn't for the newsletter that BridenSolutions sent to WildMist and she forwarded to me ...


----------



## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

Thanks for posting your report Vance, What kind of attitude did the police/fire guys have? 
I am concerned for Calgary's populace in the event of a major SHTF , so much white collar, and if it hits in winter most will freeze to death not a lot of resourses nearby to help the unprepared :scratch


----------



## WildMist (Nov 13, 2008)

I attended this fair with NaeKid and took along my little grandson to see how he reacted to the different tables.
We had just come from a kid centred event that my work was putting on so he was already for some more excitement.
The first thing we noticed was all the kids seemed to have balloons. I promised the little guy I would get him one before we left. 
We followed NaeKid like good little sheep. The grandson didn't want to try the freeze dried food. We're still working on that as his mom really hasn't introduced him to anything close to that type of food other than store bought fruit roll-ups
We got to another room with some stuff layed out on the table. This would be the BOBs NaeKid talked about. A lot of interesting things there that made me think that we need to maybe work on putting some of it in our BOBs. I loved seeing the Entertainment BOB for the kids and then the little one for Pets. I'm going to have to work on an Entertainment BOB to leave in the Jeep for the grandson. Kids need constant stimulation. And, of course at this table the first thing he said was "Look Grandma toys". I had to tell him that these were not for sale but an example of what I should put in the Jeep for him. He liked the explanation. This room was a little crowded so we decided to move on to the next room. However, in passing we were told about a Puppet Show being held for the kids. I figured this was the chance to have the Grandson learn something and it being fun at the same time.
I must say thanks to the lady that put on the Puppet Show. It was all about staying safe and how to recognize a safe place by looking for the Block Parent sign. 
NaeKid was get that glazed over look that said he was bored so I told him to go look at stuff and we would catch up with up after the show.
The lady had a puppet that reminded me of one of the Jim Henson muppets. She used him to get thru to the kids. After she put him away she made sure the kids had retained the information by asking questions. Kudos to a job well done.
Holding to my promise when the show was over I grabbed the grandson and we went to the big room with stuff layed out along all the walls. I spotted NaeKid chatting up the Briden rep. They are such nice people and of course I felt sorry for the rep knowing that NaeKid would be there for awhile.
The grandson spotted food in the centre of the room so cool now he's once again stimulated. I found a place for him to sit and eat.
After sometime watching NaeKid chatting with the rep and the grandson running in circles with the balloon a nice lady provided me with (therefore keeping my promise) I figured it was time to get outside. The grandson had finished off 3 chocolate chip cookies and had way too much energy for inside.
I signaled it was time for us to leave and said goodbye to the Briden people knowing we would see them again soon.
I agree with NaeKid's suggestion to run 4 of these Preparedness Events, one each weekend and in a community centre rather then a church if at all possible.
Loved the event and so glad I didn't miss it even with all the other things we had to do that day.
Great work everyone and looking forward to the next one where I'll leave the grandson home so I can see more and do some of my own chatting :wave:


----------



## gypsysue (Mar 27, 2010)

Wish we were closer to Calgary, since it sounds like that was a good event! Thanks, you two, for sharing what you saw and learned there!


----------



## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

Tirediron said:


> Thanks for posting your report Vance, What kind of attitude did the police/fire guys have?
> I am concerned for Calgary's populace in the event of a major SHTF , so much white collar, and if it hits in winter most will freeze to death not a lot of resourses nearby to help the unprepared :scratch


The attitude that I read from talking with the police/fire guys was that they have a certain level of concern, hoping for the best but still preparing for the worst. This year has been really hard on them - between some massive fires (condo) and rain storms (tornado / hail / etc) and a few killings (I think we are at 11 this year) - they have been kept on their toes.

I believe that they realize that they can't do everything for everyone, and, being at a fair like this one shows them that there really are people willing to take their future in hand and actually do something about it, instead of waiting for hand-outs and such.

Now, in a way, I think that our blue-collar population will do reasonably well. A couple weeks ago BassProShops had a sale on and I joined the masses before the store opened to get a steal-of-a-deal. While in the lines, I met many well-armed hunters / fishers and we had some great converstations from 9(ish) in the morning till we all worked through the lines with our new toys in hand 3(ish) to 4(ish) hours later.


----------



## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

I know a few hunters that really don't have much for survival skills ,beyond gathering meat , I hope they are a minority
The Bass Pro shop is kind of neat But I was surprized at how little primitive style camping stuff they had (maybe I am a Cave eliteist)

I also really agree with the bottom line of your Sig.:congrat:


----------



## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

Tirediron said:


> I know a few hunters that really don't have much for survival skills ,beyond gathering meat , I hope they are a minority
> The Bass Pro shop is kind of neat But I was surprized at how little primitive style camping stuff they had (maybe I am a Cave eliteist)


I am not quite a cave eliteist, but, I think that I can hold my own random-camping. Practice makes perfect, I have had lots of practice, but, I still think I am far from perfect. I was planning a BugOut practice run this summer - looks like summer has passed me by without that practice-run. I was hoping to use my bicycle and BOB to head to Waiparous and spend 72hrs out there and then head back home again.



Tirediron said:


> I also really agree with the bottom line of your Sig.:congrat:


Well, thank you!


----------



## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

Have you thought of making your way into the forestry Via Grand valley road in the event of bug out ?? a lot less people are familiar with that area ,and it should be far less crowded


----------



## The_Blob (Dec 24, 2008)

the kids' entertainment BOB is a great idea, I keep a lot of the dollar-store travel-games (with the magnetized pieces) in my car (you can pack at least a dozen seperate games in an old-school child's metal lunchbox, more if you let some of the boards, dice, and pieces do multiple game duty) for when I have any of my god kids with me! that's because I'm the "kewl" grown-up 

P.S. the magnets are good for magnetizing a needle to make a home-made compass in case you lose/break yours


----------



## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

Tirediron said:


> Have you thought of making your way into the forestry Via Grand valley road in the event of bug out ?? a lot less people are familiar with that area ,and it should be far less crowded


I tried to look-up GrandValley Road - is it the one from the 1A towards TripleDiamond RV park? If so - I haven't gone into Waiparous from there ..


----------



## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

It is the road triple diamond is on, you can't really get to the Waiparous valley by road that way , but it would be far less crowded on the eastern side of the forest reserve for the Bug out situation, prolly a lot more game too, Another way in is the 579 west of water valley to the harold creek road. as you prolly already know that road joins the Trunk road (hiway 40)


----------



## bjames40 (Dec 25, 2009)

waiparous???? isn't that where we send ********???


----------



## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

bjames40 said:


> waiparous???? isn't that where we send ********???


Simply knowing that word (the valley not nessicarily the village) may indicate neck color 
Needing to wash things (toys) for more than 5 minutes upon return from said area is a much better indicator :beercheer::canflag:


----------



## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

Tirediron said:


> Simply knowing that word (the valley not nessicarily the village) may indicate neck color
> Needing to wash things (toys) for more than 5 minutes upon return from said area is a much better indicator :beercheer::canflag:


:scratch Who washes the toys when returnin' from Waiparous??? They'll just get dirty again :sssh:

BTW: Campin' in MacLean this weekend if y'all wanna come out and play :wave:


----------



## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

Heading North this weekend (Around Sundre) 
Back to the topic of this thread , Did you look at the water filtering straw at the Briden Booth?? that looked interesting (on their site)


----------



## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

Tirediron said:


> Did you look at the water filtering straw at the Briden Booth?? that looked interesting (on their site)


:sssh: Got two of them - one in WildMist's BOB and one in mine


----------



## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

If they work as advertised they should sell like cheap gas (sell like hotcakes really doesn't apply here does it?)
About time somebody made something like that


----------

