ALTON – It's Raining Zen co-owner Dave Nunnally gets a bit choked up when he speaks about Alton being a community he and his wife, Donna, with whom he runs the store, chose to live.
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The Nunnallies have traveled across the country – each living in various places and never truly establishing roots. Dave Nunnally works for the U.S. Navy and has most recently been stationed at Scott Air Force Base. He said he and Donna saw Alton during a tour of the area and knew instinctively it was their new home. They currently live on the outskirts of town with their horses and speak highly of Alton to anyone who will listen, including mystics and vendors from across the region they are recruiting for an upcoming psychic fair at the establishment.
Since creating It's Raining Zen as a small booth at a consignment store, the Nunnallies have expanded their business, which sells an assortment of New Age books, crystals, soaps, bath bombs, local art, incense, herbs and just about anything else discerning customers could want, into two separate stores inside the formerly-dying Mineral Springs Mall.
Indigo Moon, their second store, specializes in teas, bath bombs, soaps and even dog treats. A third store, Mississippi Hippie, which Dave Nunnally plans on opening by the time of the upcoming psychic fair, will vend an assortment of fun clothing items currently found in the back area of the original shop.
“People here find peace, happiness and like-minded folks,” Dave Nunnally said. “They find people who are also on a similar journey and feel like they are able to peruse their beliefs without judgment or criticism.”
Dave Nunnally hopes that feeling will be tangible May 19-20 through the rather intangible world of the 2018 It's Raining Zen Psychic and Crystal Fair. He said people will be there giving readings in tarot, oracle, intuitive and even tea leaves. Another person will be taking photographs of people's auras, or spiritual energy believed by some to surround the human body and be indicative of mood and personality. Vendors will also be on hand selling crystals, clothing and even organic cleaning supplies.
“People have asked us why we're inviting people to sell the same things at the fair we do at the shop,” Dave Nunnally said. “And, it's because there is plenty of room for everyone, and we want small vendors and local people to be able to get their stuff out there.”
These readers and vendors will be coming from across the region to be a part of the fair. Dave Nunnally said psychic Rose Fulhurst from Gillespie has greatly assisted with this year's lineup, even attaining the tea-leaf reader from Chicago.
Tickets for the psychic fair are $5, and Dave Nunnally said that will cover both days. It will be held in the historic Mineral Springs Ballroom as well as the adjacent hall, and even landing at the top of the stairs leading to the ballroom. Live music will also take place in the lobby by Bethany Caudill as well as anyone wanting to play the piano.
“Every weekend, someone comes in here and plays that piano for about 20 minutes to a half hour, and people come around and watch,” he said. “It's like a miniature concert. We wouldn't mind if people brought their instruments to the store, get out some saxophones or guitars and play along. They could even put out their cases and keep whatever someone throws in there. We wouldn't care. It would be great.”
As of now, as many as 1,100 people have expressed their interest in the psychic fair via Facebook, which is an astounding number to Dave Nunnally.
“I'm scratching my head over here, wondering how 1.1 thousand people would say they were interested in a psychic fair in Alton,” he said. “That's incredible. I would say, even if this kind of stuff isn't exactly your thing, you should still come out and support some of our local vendors. Who knows, you may learn something new about yourself or get a different understanding to apply to the unexplained.”
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