By Logan B. Anderson

HARRINGTON — Though winter is technically here until March 20, spring was in the air at the Central Delaware Chamber of Commerce Home & Garden Expo.

The event, held Friday and Saturday at the Gold Room in the Harrington Raceway & Casino, is the second for the chamber. The first one was held in 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic it was canceled last year.

Dina Vendetti, president of the Central Delaware Chamber of Commerce, said the event is a vehicle for members of the home and garden industry and the chamber of commerce to connect with the public.

“It’s a really cool way to reach the community, the larger community. This is open to the public. It’s not just members coming in so it’s a good way for them to understand who we are and a little bit about what we do. Also, because it’s a great way for us to show off the people that are in this industry,” Ms. Vendetti said.

“If we can give them a little bit of exposure and give them a chance to show people who they are and get them some qualified leads, then better for them and better for us.”

Homestead Gardens, based in Smyrna, wanted to be a part of the expo to connect with the community.

The company was founded in the 1970s in Maryland and expanded to Delaware last year. The company purchased the former Ronnie’s Garden World building.

“We are very community oriented. We had an opportunity to join (the CDCC) earlier this year. We jumped on it right away. It’s a good opportunity for us to network with some of the local businesses and showcase our products,” said Mark Hayes, Homestead Gardens general manager.

The garden store supplied the lion’s share of the garden part of the home and garden expo. Along with their vendor booth filled with popular plant selections, they also constructed a zen water garden in the Gold Room.

The company’s displays showed off a lot of the plants that can be added to outdoor spaces and selections for houseplants, too.

“We’ve seen a lot of people really interested in tropicals,” Taylor Lipski, of Homestead Gardens, said. “We’ve been expanding our houseplant haven. That is something that we are featuring this season. We have a lot of unique houseplants and outdoor plants.”

The plant providers said they have seen an increase in traffic relating to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“People have been staring out of the windows of their house looking at places that plants could be but aren’t and we’ve been lucky to help people making that connection find what they need,” Ms. Lipski said.

Thirty vendors came together to participate in the chamber expo on Friday and Saturday.

On the “home” side of the expo, companies like Dry Zone and Hello Garage of Delmarva were on hand to talk to eventgoers.

Dry Zone works to keep buildings’ foundations safe.

“We do crawl space encapsulation and crawl space repair along with foundation repair if that’s needed. We also do concrete lifting and leveling and basement waterproofing and basement finishing,” said Molly Garbrick, of Dry Zone.

The company is based in Ellendale. “If you go on Route 16, we’re in the big red barn. You can’t miss us,” Ms. Garbrick said.

She added that Dry Zone chose to be a part of the expo to connect with potential customers.

“We think that this is a great place for us to go for people who want to better their homes or protect their investment,” Ms. Garbrick said.

Hello Garage of Delmarva can remake a simple garage into an attractive and tough workspace. The company specializes in floor coatings that make a concrete floor look and feel better. The firm also provides ways to improve how homeowners use their garage spaces.

For the Central Delaware Chamber of Commerce, the home and garden show is just the start of its busy event season.

“We will have events every single month until summer,” Ms. Vendetti said.

Next month, the group will host its Military Affaire where the central Delaware business community can connect with the Dover Air Force Base community. In April, the CDCC will hold a 55 Plus Expo in Dover. That event will focus on bringing vendors and service providers that serve those age 55 and up together in one place.

For more information on the CDCC, visit cdcc.net.