While my kitchen is going on month two of its remodel, it reminded me of the last time my kitchen was in total disarray. It started with my first holiday meal for both sides of my family and 20 pounds of potato skins that for some reason my garbage disposal couldn’t handle.
Remember, it was my first big meal.
My mother-in-law had told me to rent the items I would need to prepare a meal for two-dozen relatives. AV Party Rental, then, and in my mind now, was the only place to rent party essentials. So I got the whole tamale from them: Banquet tables, tablecloths, cloth napkins, silverware, plates, glasses, serving platters and serving utensils. I don’t even think I had enough wine glasses back then.
Fast forward to the day of cooking. Eddie watched me, although he’ll deny it now, send every scrap of every peeled potato skin down the drain. It stopped up. It backed up. During dinner I had to listen to everyone’s ideas on how to wash dishes for all two-dozen of them. “Take them outside and use the hose” and “Put them all in the bathtub and do it later” were the most memorable of choices.
(And NO ONE offered to take them home, wash and return, the idea I kept hoping for.)
And then my mother-in-law said, “Just do your best. Call AV tomorrow and see what they say.”
I called AV the next day and told them what had happened – that my guests wiped up everything the best that they could – and the AV employee told me to go ahead and bring them in. They would do me the favor and clean the dishes for me. I’ve never had to ask AV to do this for me again, but I will be forever grateful for their understanding, and for showing such compassion for my stressed out state – when they surely had enough to do.
So, fast forward again, this time almost 25 years later, and after finding Rusty Parr, the owner of AV Party Rentals on Facebook, I gave him a brief account of what he did to save my sanity and asked, what’s new at AV?
Rusty, fancy meeting you here, what kinds of basic services does AV party rental have for those that don’t know?
We rent just about everything and anything you can think of to host an event or party: “Everything from Teaspoons to Tents,” including tables & chairs, linen tablecloths and napkins, tents & canopies, and their accessories, flooring, heating, lighting, china & flatware, glassware, and serving equipment. We also carry audio/visual equipment, casino games, and children’s/carnival games.
What type of wine paraphernalia do you have for my peeps to rent for their big wine tasting parties? (The ones they will surely hire a sommelier like me to speak at?)
For wine tasting events, we carry glassware and china, linen of many colors, and serving trays. You just need the wine and the corkscrew.
How much time do I have to plan in advance to say, rent a slush machine (that I plan on filling with Margaritas) for Cinco de Mayo?
We recommend that you reserve the equipment as far in advance as possible. Although our inventory is quite extensive, there are items, such as Frozen Drink Machines, that we carry in limited quantities, which means that once they are all reserved for a single day, there are no more available.
How long have you been in business anyway? Is it a family-run shebang?
My father was involved in the rental business since 1973. We separated the Party side from the Equipment side in 1978, and have been AV Party Rentals since. I grew up in the rental business, but decided to make it a career in 1981, 30 years ago. It’s still a family business, run by myself, along with my sister Cathy and my brother Ryan. We still get input from our mom and dad, though, as “rental” never really leaves your blood.
Can I have a wine event in your building? The new one is so big!
The only events we have at our facility are for our company. We hosted a Chamber mixer when we first moved in 2001, in which we had about 800-1000 people. We also had our first “Holiday Open House” last November, which was also a big success. As far as letting someone host an event here, this opens up a great big can of worms. We would, however, entertain they idea of co-hosting an event that makes sense for our business, such as a wine tasting.
And, just to be covering all of the bases, do you rent other things besides party supplies?
In addition to the standard party equipment, we carry audio/visual equipment, event decor, generators and power distribution equipment, and guest items such as rollaway beds and highchairs.
