Kara Stemen (right) and Janis Schoephoerster (left) of Rhoads Farms in Circleville arrange bright red, plump and juicy strawberries for sale at the Canal Winchester Farmers’ Market.
By Rick Palsgrove
Southeast Editor
This year’s Canal Winchester Farmers’ Market has a lot of offer.
“The farmers’ market is a way to get people to come to downtown Canal Winchester,” said Canal Winchester Mayor Mike Ebert. “That helps our local businesses and community prosper. The market is within walking distance of many people who live in town as well. It provides a real sense of community.”
The Canal Winchester Farmers’ Market runs Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon through Sept. 24 (rain or shine). The Canal Winchester Farmers Market is located in historic downtown Canal Winchester near
Stradley Park, 36 S. High St. The market will be closed on July 30 to accommodate the Canal Winchester Blues & Ribfest, and Sept. 3 for the Canal Winchester Labor Day Festival. For information about the Canal Winchester Farmers Market, visit www.thecwfm.com.
The market offers fresh fruits and vegetables, works of art, bread, soaps, natural healing products, baked goods, jewelry, fudge, plants and much more.
Ebert said this year’s market also includes several new vendors and participants, including a young seamstress/artist and the local historical society.
Apron art
Seamstress and artist Emily Robinson, 18, a graduate of the Nexus Academy of Columbus and a student at Columbus College of Art and Design, is selling her colorful handmade aprons at the farmers’ market.
“I’ve been making aprons since I was 14,” said Robinson. “My grandma and I would sew and cook together and sometimes we made a mess in the kitchen so we needed aprons.”
Robinson is an artist who works in a variety of mediums. She enjoys making functional art and is also a fabric/soft sculpture artist who has made food-themed soft chairs.
“I made a giant cheeseburger chair complete with sesame seed bun, pickles, cheese, lettuce and tomatoes. It’s fully loaded!” said Robinson. “I also made a doughnut chair. I love food.”
Robinson’s aprons are machine washable and dryer safe. She will be selling them throughout the summer at the Canal Winchester Farmers’ Market.
Local history at the farmers’ market
Also new at the Canal Winchester Farmers’ Market this year is the Canal Winchester Historical Society.
According to lifetime CWAHS member Bob Wood, the society is seeking to increase its membership and involvement. Wood said the society began in 1975 with 20 members and now has 200 members, but many of its members are getting older and cannot be as active in the society as they once were.
“We’re trying to attract more young people to the society,” said Wood.
At the farmers’ market, the CWAHS is selling memberships as well as Dick Weiser art prints, books on local history, Cat’s Meows wooden depictions of historic sites, and wood slivers from the restoration of the historic Dietz-Bergstresser covered bridge.
Wood said the CWAHS has several fund raising events coming up.
“We trying to put the ‘fun’ back in fund raising,” said Wood.
He said that on June 28 the Shade on the Canal restaurant in Canal Winchester will donate 15 percent of its sales to the CWAHS. The society is also bringing back the ice cream social for the first time in 10 years on Sunday, Sept. 4 of the Labor Day weekend from 2-4 p.m. at the historical complex at Oak and North High streets.
Also, Wood said the Historic Ghost Tour will return this fall on Oct. 14-15 from 6:30-8:30 p.m., dispelling previous fears that the tour would be discontinued.
A big project for the CWAHS are its plans to locate the Barber Museum in the 1967 wing of the former school at 100 Washington St. this summer.
“We want to see the historical society continue to grow and to continue to preserve our local history,” said Wood.
