Oakdale Home Improvement Fair Saturday Offers Something for Everyone

Whether your bathroom needs remodeling, your lawn needs landscaping help, you’re looking for money to pay for home upgrades or you’re just looking for something to do with your kids on a Saturday, Oakdale’s Home Improvement Fair has something for you.

The big event—which takes place from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, March 19, at —started in 2006 as a way to encourage reinvestment in the community and support local businesses, said Community Development Specialist Logan Martin.

“It’s kind of a two-fold deal with helping the city maintain a quality housing stock,” he said, “but then also supporting businesses, giving them a chance to get in front of a bunch of people in a short amount of time to talk about their services.”

Here are the answers to some questions you might have about this year’s event:

What will be new this year?

“There is a new mini-focus on green improvements to your home this year,” Martin said. Vendors will include Applied Energy Innovations, a contractor that specializes in renewable and energy efficient improvements such as solar, wind and geothermal energy systems. Also attending will be the Neighborhood Energy Connection, which offers the Minnesota Energy Loan, a low-interest loan option for energy efficient home improvements. There will also be information on the city’s low-interest loan program called R-HELP for green improvements, such as installing energy efficient windows, upgrading a heater, air conditioner or water heater, or adding attic or wall insulation. The city received a $50,000 grant, he said, to give the $1,000 to $5,000 loans at a 3 percent interest rate.

Will there be anything for kids to do?

For the past five years, a nonprofit organization has helped kids build birdhouses at the event, so since families might be reaching their limit of birdhouses, organizers thought they’d do something different for children this year, Martin said. This year the Oakdale Environmental Management Commission will help kids decorate canvas bags, he said. The kids area will also feature a caricature artist, face painting and games that teach about recycling he said.

What kind of vendors will be there?

There will be 55 to 60 vendors including contractors who do kitchen, bathroom and other interior remodeling; window, siding and door installation; landscaping; and more, Martin said.

Where are the vendors from?

The vendors are mostly from the East Metro, but the city doesn’t place geographic restrictions on who can participate, Martin said. The city originally solicited contractors who had applied for permits in Oakdale, he said, so many of the vendors have done work in the city at some point. “It’s a lot of local people,” he said.

Will there be giveaways?

The got grant money from Energizer to give away nine-volt batteries for use in smoke detectors. Vendors don’t typically tell city organizers what they’ll be bringing, Martin said, but rest assured,  “They always have really cool giveaways. I know people always go home with bags full of goodies.” The city also provides free snacks.

Will there be other businesses represented besides home improvement contractors?

Yes, there are a couple of chiropractors that attend annually, the new gym will have a booth, organizers of the Oakdale Veterans Memorial will sell pavers from their booth, the city’s Parks and Recreation Department will be selling birdseed and talking about upcoming programs and a couple of banks always come, Martin said. “We like to say if you find a project that you want to complete with Re-Bath or this remodeler, you can go down the aisle to and find out how to finance it. You can literally talk about your financing right after you talk about how much your new bath is going to cost.”