T-L Photo/ROBERT A. DEFRANK Diane Hutchison, owner of the Farmhouse on 40 near the Blame My Roots venue, sets up a “swaggon” of merchandise on the roadside. Area vendors saw an uptick of business during the festival.

MORRISTOWN — Vendors at the Blame My Roots Country Music Festival were doing brisk business Saturday when the lead act started to play.

Rick Ferrell was scooping out Kirke’s Homemade Ice Cream.

“The crowds have been really great, really nice people. We’ve had a great time out here. Kirke’s Ice Cream is proud to be out here supporting Belmont County. It’s been an overall great three days,” Ferrell said. “I think that the Duttons have done a fantastic job of putting together a venue so that they can build upon for years to come. It’s great for the Ohio Valley to have events like this, and I hope they’re successful in making this bigger and better every year.”

Others from outside the area agreed.

“I travel this country all the time. We’re on the road from April to October, and the Duttons put on one heck of a show here. This ranks right up with the best of them,” Jim Donis of Jim’s Smokin Que of Homestead, Pennsylvania, said, adding that he commends the dedication of organizers and fans who took on the event during this time of high fuel prices. “We love this place. … I believe it will (grow). … You make it work, and people need to go out and see what’s going on.”

Vendors with all sorts of products to sell were finding success at the site.

“It’s a really good event. The people are fun. There’s a nice vibe – if it rains they don’t all panic, they just enjoy it more,” Erin Johnson, co-owner of Denver’s Kettle Corn, said. “This is our second year at Blame My Roots. … There’s definitely a lot more tents set up here and vendors and sponsors than there were last year.”

Some of the businesses surrounding the Blame My Roots site at Valley View Campgrounds on U.S. 40 between Morristown and St. Clairsville also noticed an uptick in activity.

“It’s been pretty nonstop, which is really good for service,” Andy Riter of Bellaire, an employee at the Sunoco station along National Road in East Richland, said. “From about Wednesday to probably Sunday it’s going to be very nonstop. It’s just constant people, which is really good for business.”

Business has also been going well at the Farmhouse on 40 on National Road near the festival gate. The farmhouse has been open for a year, first opening three weeks before Blame My Roots resumed after being halted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Hopefully one day it’ll compare,” said Lesie Grumbach, who was helping her aunt, Farmhouse owner Diane Hutchison. “They’ve been so great to support my aunt and her business and pass on the word that we’re here. … We’ve had several customers come in and tie-dye shirts out in the front yard.”

“We were not a store when (Jamboree In The Hills) was in session, but we would meet here as a family and enjoy it as a family,” Hutchison said. “More people know about us, and we’ve had a wonderful day (Friday).”

Hutchison also had a “swaggon” of Blame My Roots merchandise and “swag” on the roadside.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs through the Wheeling Vet Center also had a presence at the festival. Michael Novotney, outreach specialist, said many who attended the festival had a history of service and he helped make them aware of help and services available.

“We talked to a lot of veterans today, a lot of family members,” he said Saturday. “We’ve done a lot of education today. … We were actually here last year with the mobile vet center, and they were gracious enough to have us back this year. … This event has been very great. They kind of got an unfortunate circumstances with the pandemic and couldn’t do it. … They lost a little of their learning curve, but compared to last year … we got a great crowd here.”