On July 24th, 2022, Trader Vic’s in Emeryville CA held one of their fabulous Hawaiian Bazaar Events and I was lucky enough to have the privilege of showing my work to the Tiki Loving public, in person for the very first time!
![](https://www.tikithing.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Trader-Vics-Hawaiian-Bazaar-1024x575.png)
This was all made possible thanks to my long-lost high school friend Eve Bergeron, who I found out the day before was hosting this event.
I’ll be forever grateful to Eve for graciously offering me a table that day when I showed up to the party unannounced.
![](https://www.tikithing.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Tiki-Makaios-Table-1024x576.jpg)
I had a lovely time chatting with her and reminiscing for a moment about our high school shenanigans. She really surprised me when she remembered my first car, a 69 Chevelle… those were the good old days!
Thank you, Eve!
![](https://www.tikithing.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/69_Chevelle-1024x570.jpg)
One of the people I had the pleasure of meeting that day was @kevincrossman He has a write-up about this event on his epic blog The Search for the Ultimate Mai Tai.
![](https://ultimatemaitai.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/IMG_4417-640x480.jpg)
Kevin is also officially my first customer! Thank you, Kevin, for picking up one of my Outrigger Bottle Openers and mentioning me in your post about this event.
![](https://www.tikithing.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/IMG_3649-scaled.jpg)
I loved this guy’s Fez, I’ve always wanted one, so I asked him where he found it. He said it came from a place called Fez-O-Rama
so I checked them out the next day and have to say if you’re in the market for a Fez, and everyone should be, I’d definitely recommend checking them out, they’ve got the goods and then some.
The place was jumping! and I just had to do a test drive of one of my coasters with the world-famous Trader Vic’s Mai Tai…
![](https://www.tikithing.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Mai-Tai-Test-Drive.jpg)
![](https://www.tikithing.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Coasters.jpg)
The Colors and Colorful People here were a feast for the senses!
![](https://www.tikithing.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Caftan-Colors.jpg)
![](https://www.tikithing.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/IMG_3652-scaled.jpg)
![](https://www.tikithing.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Trader-Vics-Bar-BW-1024x510.jpg)
I had a lot of fun, some delicious drinks, and made some great connections at this event