While I found your colored pictures of Summer Fest in (the July 19) West Seattle Herald quite lovely, I think the public should be aware that this year's event wasn't such a fantastic experience for a lot of the vendors. The booth fees paid by the vendors (this year $305 up from $250 last year) are what pay the freight and bring people to the Junction where they can see what else is offered by the permanent retailers and will return to do more business at a later date.

The West Seattle Junction Association chose to hire a Queen Anne organization, The Workshop, to promote the event this year. As a long time vendor and resident of West Seattle, I know what a daunting task it must have been for the West Seattle Junction Association to attempt to replace Margaret and her West Seattle style low-key, efficient way of doing things. However, this is West Seattle not Fremont, or Capitol Hill or The University District. In Seattle, every neighborhood takes pride in its own uniqueness and one size most definitely does not fit all.

I spoke with some vendors who complained that longtime vendors did not get their usual spaces even though they contacted the organization in a timely manner. I was expecting to be notified ahead of time, as had always happened in the past, but thought the lack of response was just my own issue until I found others who said their usual spaces had been sold to vendors who were associates of the promoters.

Initially, I thought this was probably sour grapes until my experience on Sunday afternoon when another vendor created a drama that could easily have been dealt with by the promoters just telling her to stay in her booth and tend to her own business. Instead, the promoters allowed this woman to steal my property and create hours of drama during which I lost sales and had a theft because I was manning my booth alone and could not take care of business while dealing with unnecessary and childish nonsense. One staff member actually prevented customers from entering my booth long after the initial situation was over thus creating more loss of sales.

It was three long hot days that not only brought old friends and neighbors but some wonderful new people into my life and I am grateful for the smiles of little children I traded for crystals that made me a wealthy woman in spirit and gave me the energy to make it through an insane day. I especially want to thank the young man who works at West Five for standing up for me. However, it is highly likely that this is the last year I will be a vendor at an event that no longer feels like West Seattle.

Susan Harmon

High Point