Westport Art Group takes center stage at 2008 Farmers’ Market!
EverythingWestport.com
Saturday,
July 12, 2008
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“We’re thrilled to be here,” bubbled
Nancy Burkholder (right in picture),
WAG Chairwoman. “The artists are very happy! Visitors are taking our brochures,
and that’s always a good sign. Next time, we’ll bring more paintings.”
“We’ve sold
three paintings so far this morning,” said Ruth Edwards (left), well known Westport artistic photographer and painter. And
I’ve sold four prints and many of my greeting cards!”
The Westport Art Group took over the
Grange’s center stage area to exhibit and sell a
dazzling array of water colors, art objects, paintings, and jewelry in their
first appearance at the Farmers’ Market.
Read the WAG announcement now.
Not to be
outdone, nature provided her own stunning array of colors and textures, as
produce, plant and flower vendors put on a display that would entice any
artisan to grab their camera or paint palette.
The 2nd Annual Farmers’ Market
hit the stands running Saturday morning as beautiful weather and the Quaker
Book Fair across the street brought hundreds of visitors into Central Village,
jamming Main Street with cars and shoppers.
“Aren’t my
peaches beautiful,” exclaimed a cheerful Joanne D’Agostino
(below) of Paradise Hill Farm.
Joanne with mom, Thelma, and sister Shirley had little
time for chatter with this photographer as they busily filled orders.
“I’ve never
been a salesman before,” said Wally Nichols of Westport. As a board member of
the WRWA, Wally volunteered to man their booth, and
sell t-shirts and information. “It’s easier than I thought,” he said.
“We have a
full assortment of vendors this year,” said Beth Easterly, Market coordinator.
“They are participating in round-robin style that keeps our market “fresh” with
new products and ideas.” (See vendor list below.)
The
Westport Grange No. 181 has been re-inventing itself as a resource to local
area growers and vertical marketers of specialty produce. “The Grange is a
vital asset to our community, and is certainly worth revitalizing,” Beth
Easterly said. “The Hall is a centrally-located, wonderful building that can
serve the needs of non-farmers as well as agriculture.” A non-profit organization, the Grange is
revenue dependent on contributions and sale dollars from fundraising events
like the Farmers’ Market. “We need the community’s help,” Beth added.
Read the
story of the Grange’s revitalization effort now.
A recent
meeting at the Grange about the devastating effects of “peak oil” vividly points out the perils of petroleum-based
agricultural. At that meeting, Professor Nancy
Lee Wood, sociology professor at Bristol Community College, gave a talk on how
we could take a grass roots approach in reducing consumption of fossil fuels in
food production. She presented a sterling example of how it could be done. “We
are loosing the knowledge of how our food is produced,” Dr. Wood said. “And our
daily intake of 3900 calories from the food we do eat is twice as much as we
need.” She went on to say how “farmers’ markets and home gardens of
locally-grown fruits and produce could reduce dependency on foreign oil, as
well as provide organically grown, nutrient-rich foods to our families.”
Read the story “Peak Oil at the Grange” now.
Farmers’
markets across New England are taking hold as sustainable agriculture is
entering onto the world stage as a viable method of local food production.
Local artisans put on show.
As anyone
can tell you, the depth and breadth of Westport’s artisan community is
astounding. And it’s never so apparent than at the Westport Farmers’ Market.
This is Lynn McCarthy (below left-most
picture) of 4 Elements’ second
year at the Farmers’ Market. In between showing (and wearing!) her semi-precious
stone jewelry she said “it was a delight to be back, and the traffic was
great.”
From
left to right: (1)
Lynn McCarthy of 4 Elements; (2) Kim Bausch of Goods From The Woods displayed her handcrafted gourds; (3) Turtle rocks abound as the Westport
Art Group made their first appearance at the Market; and (4) Virginia Merlier and Miles Hoisington
of Stonehaven Farm had fun chatting about their
lambs and eggs with Helga Nichols of Westport.
From
left to right: (1) Barbara
Hanley (center), marketing the Shy
Brothers Farm Hannahbells cheese, talks with Peggy Stevens, the Land
Trust’s new Executive Director; (2)
nature’s bounty on display at the 2nd annual Farmers’ Market; and (3) Debra Lee Valeri
of Meadowbrook Studio marking up one
of her wonderful watercolors.
Farmer’s Market announces schedule
of participating vendors.
Vendors:
Paradise Hill Farm, Shirley D'Aostino-Robbins;
Canuel Brothers Farm; The Plant Pagoda, Stephanie Fels; Lydon Family Tomatoes;
Quansett Gardens and Farm Stand, Mary Mehri;
Dartmouth Orchards. These are produce
vendors.
Artisians: Sharon Owens, basketmaker;
Golden Touch Farm, Shelley Riley, alpaca products; Diane Dupont.
body care products; Wind Drift Studio, Sharon Andrade, painted stones and
collectibles; Kim Bausch, Goods from the Woods, handcrafted gourds; Rachael C.
Costa, RCC Pottery; Jay & Gail Denardo, hand painted mailboxes, trash cans, etc.; Joan Dupont, pocket
books from recycled fabrics; Herman
Falcon, jeweler; Dorothea Ferreira, quilted items; Heath's Herbals, Cheryl Heathe; Pat Kellogg, jeweler; Debbie Lowther,
wampum, sea glass items; Looney Bird Designs, Paul Macomber & Joy Hanken, wooden garden tools & accessories; 4 Elements
Personal Innovations, Lynn McCarthy, soy candles & shell jewelry; Stonehaven Farm, lamb skins & woolen blankets;
Dandelion Press, Kim O'Brien, hand made paper items & textiles; Pine Tree
Glass Works, Jackie Pinheiro; Cattales Pottery,
Lori Quinn; Dragonfly Handmade Soap, Robin Schmidt; Milicent
Throop, Botanical Designs; Dovesfoot Pottery, Amy
Thurber; Meadowbrook Studio, Debra Valeri; Westport
Art Group members show.
The artisans,
for the most part, do not come every week. There's always someone new.
From
left to right: (1) the
very lovely duo of Gail and Julie DeNardo (guess
which is the mother!) brings a new genre to garden-variety trash cans; (2) Shirley D'Aostino-Robbins
of Paradise Hill Farm; (3) Pat Kellogg (right) and Claudette
Menard of Cirius Designs; (4) a beautiful high-speed, telephoto photograph by Ruth Edwards; and
(5) there was a rush-hour of
activity inside the Grange building.
Farmers’ Market hours of operation.
The
Westport Farmers Market & Craft Fair will be open Saturday, July 5 at 8:30
a.m. for its second season. Located in Central Village at the Westport Grange,
931 Main Road, the season runs every Saturday from July 5 through October
11. Hours of operation are 8:30 a.m. to
1:00 p.m. The market is open rain or shine.
All items are grown or made locally.
For more information
call (508) 636-4427 or email eaae@verizon.net.
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