Rain Didn't Drown Out the Home and Garden Expo This Weekend

Windows Depot provided a courtesy ride in a golf cart through the wet parking lot at the Wells Fargo Pavilion, 200 W. 43rd St. on Saturday for the HBA Home and Garden Expo. Local businesses and some out of town businesses gathered to offer information and demonstrations on a range of topics from water conservation to how to buy a home.

Monty Sims from Bes-Tex was out educating those interested in lawn care.

 “We educate people about their yard. How to control  weeds in their yard, not necessarily just throwing on a herbicide, but how to control the broad leaf weeds in their yard by mowing, feeding, and irrigating.”

Bes-Tex will have its open house April 1-3 at 3808 Devonian Dr.

“We supply the lawn and landscape, and pesticide professional’s supplies, but we are open to the public. Homeowners can come in and ask us questions on how to control a certain species of weed or bug and then what to do, Monday through Friday 8a.m.-5p.m.”

Jenny Kelley and her daughter, Jae Thomason were raising money for Operation Finally Home. The proceeds from t-shirt, caps, lapel pins, and decal sales will be used to build a mortgage-free home for the Campbell family from West Virginia here in San Angelo. Donations were also accepted. Kelley mentioned that a raffle will also be coming up soon that will also contribute to the construction of the Campbell family’s home.

Robin Reed with the San Angelo Association of Realtors was also in attendance.  

 “We are sharing information with the public on why it’s best to work with a realtor,” Reed said. “Things they should ask, questions they should ask their inspectors or things to help with selling or buying a home, differences between renting and selling, and what they should do if their renting to prepare for buying and educating the community about the realtor name.”

The San Angelo Association of Realtors will host a clay shoot at the San Angelo Clay Bird Association on May 9 beginning at 8:30 a.m.

It was a maze of demo windows and doors at the Advanced Custom Windows booth, where Charles Jolly educated the crowd on their insulation services.

“Our newest 'greenest' product would be insulation; it’s a cellulous-based insulation that is made of recycled newspaper,” Jolly said.  “We are here to display and let everybody know all the different aspects of construction we do. Replacement windows, interior and exterior doors, garage doors, gutters, siding, and insulation are things we specialize in.”

The eco-friendly “green” theme was everywhere you looked on the Expo floor.

Luis De Luna from D’s Recycling and Composting talked about the type of recycling the business has expertise in.

“We specialize in recycling cow and horse manure the dry wood shavings from the stock show and rodeo; we recycle all of those and use them in our compost,” said De Luna. “Also all of the shavings from the local tree trimmers, grass clippings from landscapers, the bio solids from 3D’s Plumbing, and grease from restaurant grease traps, we recycle all of that.”

Phillip Zapata from Superior Services explained what he as a plumber feels is an important energy efficient appliance to install in your home.

“I like the tankless water heater because you are not heating up a whole tank of water 24 hours a day 7 days a week. The only time it comes on is when you turn the faucet for hot water, when you turn the faucet off it turns off. You are not wasting any energy.”

The Home and Garden Expo ran through Sunday. Seminars and workshops were held throughout the day. This year’s special guest was Vern Yip who is a TV star on HGTV and TLC shows.