A relentless, chilly rain stopped many from coming to Emporia's Great American Market on Saturday, but a few diehards showed up - raincoats, umbrellas and all.
"You can't predict what Mother Nature's gonna do," said Sonya Barriger of Chanute. Barriger was operating a vendor booth between 5th Avenue and 6th Avenue, selling a polish cleaner. By the time the market closed at 4 p.m., her booth was the only one left on the block.
"Everything was supposed to be full," Barriger said. "I heard that there were supposed to be 100 vendor spots sold, but only 25 or 30 showed up."
"A lot of people have stuff the rain will hurt," she said. "People aren't gonna risk hurting their stuff. But we don't mind if our stuff gets wet. We can just wipe it off and it's no big deal."
This year is Barriger's second year at the market. "There were a lot more people last year, a lot more vendors," she said. "You just never know what's gonna happen. But we're diehards when it comes to the rain."