Crowd packs Chess Park as farmers market returns

The popular event features food and other items for sale, along with live entertainment.

Monongahela had a successful start to its summer farmers market Friday at Chess Park with produce, toys and other treasures at every corner.

Michelle DeHosse, chairperson for the Monongahela Area Revitalization Corporation and organizer of the farmers market, said 42 vendors took part Friday. Throughout the summer, that number sometimes gets closer to 60.

“I think it went really well for it being the first day,” DeHosse said. “I think people are used to coming down here, and I’ve had a lot of people say they were looking forward to us starting back up again. The vendors that I’ve talked to have all done very, very well. Our new vendors have done very well. So that’s great.”

Chess Park will host the event from 3 to 6 p.m. every Friday — except for July 4 — until Sept. 5. Musicians are lined up for every market, and they begin performing at 4 p.m. each week.

Entertainment for opening day was provided by C&T Acoustic, who played cover music from Journey and other rock bands.

Theme days will be held at the market throughout the summer:

• June 20 is senior citizens’ day.

• June 27 is kids’ day.

• July 11 is mini-golf day.

• July 18 and Aug. 29 are ethnic food days.

• July 25 is Christmas in July.

• Aug. 1 is the car show.

• Aug. 8 is touch-a-truck day.

• Aug. 15 is the children’s entrepreneur market.

• Aug. 22 is wild animal day.

Proceeds from mini-golf day will go to the Finleyville Food Pantry. Wild animal day will feature a show by Wild World of Animals that starts at 3 p.m.

Along with a wide selection of produce, the market might be the perfect place to find a gift for a friend or family. Julietta Mangino’s Free Range Kin business had a variety of handmade gifts, including crochet plushies, keychains, jewelry and more.

Friday marked Mangino’s first time at the farmers market, but she’s familiar with it because her parents grew up in Monongahela.

“I’ve been doing craft shows for probably the last three years, but this is my first year at the market,” Mangino said. “It’s going really good. I think the market’s really grown a lot over the last couple of years. And we had a really good turnout so far today.”

Also making her first appearance at the market was Kenna Cook, owner of Kenna’s Creations. She sold fairy gardens, colorful dish rags, bikini dish rags and live plants.

Cook said local residents can find her at the market until July 11.

The market also features a collection of food vendors, including Dipped with Patience, owned by Patience Williams of Elizabeth.

“It’s a build-your-own cheesecake cup, so you can create your own with the different toppings,” Williams said. “I have Reese’s Pieces, I have pretzels, you can do your own Dubai cheesecake cup, so you can have the coffee and the pistachio and the whole thing.”

Ginger Hill Grange sold funnel cakes at the market, and Grange president Vicki Seighman said funds raised from purchases support local projects.

“This is the first one of the year, and it started out slow, but it’s picking up now, and all the money we collect goes back to the community,” Seighman said. “That’s why we do this. We’re a community organization. It started for agriculture, but now we just give the money to the community, whoever needs it.”

Besides snacks and cooked food, the market has several produce vendors, so people can buy and cook their favorite dishes at home. Among them is Rabbit Hollow Farm, owned by LJ and Brandon Kahl, who were accompanied Friday by their son, Soren Kahl.

The farm is located in Car- roll Township, and LJ Kahl said they offer produce, goat’s milk soap, maple syrup and other products at the market. This is their fifth year participating, and they will be at the market until September.

“It’s been a really good experience, especially now that we kind of have our regular customers, our people who are supportive of us,” LJ Kahl said. “I tend to get hit really early, at the beginning of the market, and I sell out a lot of stuff. So our biggest kind of issue as a business right now is that I need to grow more things.”

Brandon Kahl said one of their favorite things is to offer the community new produce that they might not have encountered before, such as bok choy.

Also selling produce was the Harden Family Farm, owned by Fred and Sheila McConn. They bring vegetables, fruit, honey, jams, meats and plants to the market.

“We have a full line of produce, and we’ve been in business since 1964, but started produce in the 70s, and so we’ve been a member of this market for as long as I can remember,” Sheila McConn said.

For more information about the farmers market, go to https://marc15063. com/monongahela-farmers-market or check out the Monongahela Farmers Market Facebook page.