Vibing in the valley

The Swap
Noon to 6 p.m. Saturday
Holiday Inn, 700 Port Drive, Clarkston
$5; free for children ages 5 and younger

There’s lots that’s new at The Swap this year: a cosplay tutorial from Moscow drag performer Aquasha DeLusty, a Mario Kart tournament, an “artist alley” — and the venue.

The Swap founder (and Inland 360 columnist) Will Thompson, of Lewiston, started the family-friendly, pop culture event nearly a decade ago (though this is the seventh Swap, with two years missed during the pandemic) at Riverport Brewing Co. in Clarkston, moving it to the Elks Lodge in Lewiston when it outgrew its original location.

It’s back in Clarkston now, at the Holiday Inn, a space Thompson said should suit it well, with a better layout for its more than 30 vendors and more central location.

The event has grown from a comic book and record swap to include a celebration of all things pop culture.

“It’s a great place to find your next thing,” Thompson said. “This is kind of an all in one. Anyone who’s there is a collector themself. That adds so much to the interactions.”

The cosplay tutorial begins at 1 p.m., with DeLusty, a licensed cosmetologist sharing wig and makeup tips for all ages.

Sign-ups start at 2 p.m. for the Mario Kart 7 Wii tournament, with categories for players 12 and younger and 13 and older. Prizes are from Charlie’s Retro Reality, Game Play and Dusty Dowdy Designs, all of Clarkston.

The artist alley puts a “focus on folks who are making stuff,” Thompson said. Dusty Dowdy, of Dusty Dowdy Designs, will be selling made-to-order T-shirts with The Swap logos — both the standard style and a Nintendo-style.

Swap devotees will see many returning vendors, too, Thompson said, selling books, vinyl records and memorabilia.

“It’s a great environment, and it really caters to someone who is interested on any level,” Thompson said, “whether collecting things is just kind of a casual something that someone does when they just run across a Funko Pop for someone they like, or if they have a very curated collection.”

Food truck Chili Blues will be set up in the parking lot, and beverages will be available for purchase inside from the hotel, including beer and wine for those 21 and older.

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Inspired by Nature show
10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday
Hells Canyon Grand Hotel, Seaport Ballroom, 621 21st St., Lewiston
Free

Inspired by Nature show founder Randy Squires, of Lewiston, will be there with his large display of gems when the event, now in its sixth year, opens Friday in Lewiston.

But Squires has been phasing himself out of organizing the annual event, handing the reins to Clarkston resident Miranda Wilburn, owner of Miranda’s Sacred Space LLC in Clarkston.

“It’s one of my favorite shows, so I hope I can keep it alive, and I hope I can live up to Randy’s standards,” Wilburn said. “It’s a learning curve for sure.”

She’s not making any big changes this year, Wilburn said, maintaining free admission and curating a roster of 19 vendors, similar to past years.

As usual, she said, those vendors span a variety of handmade art and products that are, as the show’s name suggests, inspired by nature, including crystals, leatherwork, woodwork, photography, jewelry, candles, soap, stained glass, air plants, painted feathers, mushrooms and wooden furniture.

Longtime Inspired by Nature show vendor Debi Moody, of Lewiston, started making soaps seven years ago, as she was retiring from a 43-year teaching career, and initially gave away what she made.

Her recipients encouraged her to start selling her creations, and now she has a regular clientele, so much so she only participates in three shows a year, because she’s so busy filling orders.

She cooks up 10-bar batches of the hot process soap in a slow cooker, adding aloe vera to a coconut oil base to create gentle bars scented with essential oils and colored with mica.

“It’s all natural,” Moody said.


Popular scents include huckleberry, cherry almond, sandalwood, and frankincense and myrrh, her personal favorite, which she described as almost like an aftershave.
She also makes a pumice soap that’s a big seller with farmers: It removes grease without drying out skin.

“There’s some farmers, they might buy 25 bars at a time,” she said.

Moody tries to keep her soap prices reasonable, Moody said, charging $4.50 per bar or $23 for five.

She also makes a CBD pain cream ($25 for 2-ounce jar) with nine pain-inhibiting and antiinflammatory essential oils and a wound cream ($6.50 for 1-ounce tin), made from locally gathered plantain plants, she said speeds wound healing by increasing circulation.

“My Native friends taught me about that,” she said. “I can pick (plantain leaves) when I take walks.”

Visitors to Moody’s booth also will see colorful silk cosmetics bags and handmade jewelry.

Her silk bags are made from obi, a sash or belt worn with traditional Japanese clothing, and sell for $25 each or $30 for a set that includes a mini bag. She’s also started making bags from kokum scarves, which are commonly used in Native American regalia. The kokum bags sell for $20 each or $25 for a set.

She also crafts earrings ($5-$15; $20 for longer ones) using dentalium shells, commonly used by Indigenous Americans and Canadians of the West Coast, and porcupine quills.

Stone (she/her) can be reached at mstone@inland360.com.