You may have noticed by now how this reporter often chooses her topics…yep, the good ol’ drive-by! On my weekly grocery trip into town, I noticed that the Portage County Health Department (next to Marc’s) had a Farmers’ Market. Again, the car pulled in of its own volition. (Maybe I should get that checked?)
Not yet the size of long-established markets, this one was easy to do in the few minutes I had. Strolling across the lawn in front of the building at 999 East Main in Ravenna, I saw a variety of vendors. The Health Department has a booth set up that has a rotating theme. This week it was Vehicle Safety. I answered the quiz correctly and spun the wheel for a prize. I am now the proud owner of a Motorcycle Pen.
On to the next booth, also set up by the Health Department. This one was emphasizing nutrition and has many easy and inexpensive recipe and informational pamplets available. They also had a Make it Yourself Salsa bar set up for free samples. Yummo!
In the next booth, Husk-Kees Bakery, LLC had me wishing I were a pupper, as their baked doggie treats looked so tempting. Onto the next booth, was the Cottage Baker with Country Crumb. Owner Jackie had a variety of breads available. Turning the corner were two vegetable booths set up by area farmers. The veggies looked ripe and delicious, harkening me back to my farm-girl days. Onto Scones From Home, provided by Kathy Maretka. I sampled the chocolate scone. Needed a coffee to go with it, but no problem, Carrie Guesman of GrindHead Coffee had me covered.
With my curiosity as well as my taste buds satisfied, I sought out the curator of this event.
The Health Department has yet one more booth there. This time I was able to track down information instead of goodies. I spoke with Becky Lehman who is the Portage County Health Commissioner.
June 17 was their first market, and they will be going through September 9th. They run Tuesdays from 3:00pm to 6:00pm so it is easy to stop on your way home from work. It is not the Ravenna Farmers Market that was set up in downtown a few years back, though they learned a great deal from those organizers. This one is called Thrive Together, with the premise of being healthy by eating well and being active. The farmers provide fruit and vegetables, and they also have Yoga at 6:15, right after the market closes. Right there on the lawn. Their certified Yoga instructor on staff, Kim Plough, has over 500 hours of teaching Yoga.
Becky says they don’t have many vendors yet, but they grow every week. If you are interested in becoming a vendor, go to portagehealth.net and put ‘farmers market’ in the search bar. It will bring you to an application page. If you are selling fruits and vegetables, the fee is waived. If you are selling other products, there is a $36.00 monthly or a $15.00 weekly feed.
Another member of the Health Department team, Brandon Burns, adds…
“We do accept SNAP and WIC vouchers at our market. Another great thing is we have a partnership with United Way that allows us to have a benefit for those using SNAP and WIC. If you were intending to use $20.00 on your benefit card, we can manage that with $10.00, due to this grant. We’re super excited to be able to benefit those that are food insecure and need a little beit of help. It’s also helping out local vendors in the market with their sales.”
So, all in all, there is no reason to be bored here in Portage County. Get a book, grow a garden and stop in at Thrive Together for some goodies and support members of the community. And don’t forget to stick around for free Yoga. Maybe help get me up from the mat when my Downward Dog becomes Mat Faceplant! See ya there…
