As Ohio’s summer sunshine begins to replace its spring showers, you may be looking for a way to spend your long-awaited weekends outside. Look no further than the 38th annual Grove City Chamber Farmers’ Market taking place each Saturday morning from May 9 through Sept. 12.
With around 80 different vendors at this year’s market – selling products from different sauces and cheeses, to flowers, bee-related goods and more – along with several food trucks, this year’s market will be one to remember.
Grove City Chamber of Commerce
Familiar faces
While the Farmers’ Market welcomes new and unique vendors to the lineup each year, a few vendors have become staples.
Elfrink Farms looks forward to making fresh products readily available and accessible to the friendly community of Grove City.
“(The Farmers’ Market) makes it easier… to get fresh stuff from us or fresh cookies or donuts or coffee,” says Chris Greiner of Elfrink Farms. “A lot of good products come down there.”
The Baum Creations, a family-owned lemonade vendor, will be returning to the Farmers’ Market this year for its second year, offering a variety of freshly squeezed, fair-style lemonades with specialty add-ons such as boba and candy skewers. Keven Baum, owner of The Baum Creations, says that the community and the growth of the Farmers’ Market is what lead him back this year.
“The atmosphere (and) the people, we definitely love. We've become really close with a bunch of our community because me and my wife and our kids are from Grove City. So, we do it to keep it (at) home,” says Baum.
Another vendor coming back to the market this year for its third summer is Alice’s Kitchen, an Italian bakery. Alice’s Kitchen specializes in homemade focaccia, and this year, Alice Rauli, owner of Alice’s Kitchen, is excited to add homemade Italian meals to the menu. Rauli loves being a part of the Farmers’ Market because of the community and how many people come to it.
“The community is very involved, and I think that it is even growing every year… I've already seen people going to set up on the other side of the street because there is no space,” says Alice Rauli.
Grove City Chamber of Commerce
Connect and compete
The Farmers’ Market also hosts several special events throughout the season.
Coffee with a Cop is a popular recurring event which welcomes visitors to spend time with local police officers, connect over friendly conversations and enjoy a complimentary cup of coffee.
Another popular occasion at the Farmers’ Market is called Fire and Ice, a time in which Grove City firefighters engage with guests by handing out free frozen popsicles and hot dogs.
“We also do something really special, the Chief's Challenge, which is our fire chief versus our police chief. They both come down (to the market) with their teams a-blazing and they get to pick out their menu, they get to shop the market and then they get to show us how they can cook. And it is such a fun battle,” says Shawn Conrad, Grove City Area Chamber of Commerce President and CEO.
Conrad shares that the cumulative record of the Chief's Challenge is very close, seven wins to eight wins. This year’s competition is one to see as the tipping of the scale is up in the air.
Grove City Chamber of Commerce
Community chain
Vendors helping one another set up their booths to visitors learning about a product that will take their favorite meal to the next level, the Farmers’ Market is a place that fosters existing relationships and encourages new connections alike. It also serves to support Grove City residents and local businesses long after booths have been packed up.
“We’re bringing people from well beyond the walls of Grove City and we’re bringing them down here to see not just our Historic Town Center (or) our Farmers’ Market, but the rest of our community as well,” says Conrad.
“Whatever it is that they’re buying, it's coming back into our economy,” Chamber Events Coordinator Sherry White adds. “It’s all staying right here, local.”
Katarina Guy is an editorial assistant and Korrigan Craddock is a contributing writer at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
