It’s that time of the year again…holiday shopping time! Vendors from the Catawba Valley Farmers Market will hold their Eighth Annual Holiday Market on Saturday, November 18, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., at the Catawba Community Center. Located at 4965 Catawba Creek Road in Catawba, just down from the Post Office and near The Homeplace Restaurant, restrooms and the first floor of the former schoolhouse will be handicap accessible.
The Holiday Market grows and improves each year, with 25 plus local vendors now offering their handmade arts, crafts and baked goods, along with their locally grown meats and fall produce. The crafts will include scented candles, knitted wearables, pottery, goat-milk bath and beauty products, ornaments, several types of jewelry, doll clothes, wooden bowls and ink pens, baby bibs and burp cloths, wooden toys, lavender-based bath and beauty items, wall calendars, hand-forged fireplace pokers, garden flags, Nordic sweaters and hats for babies, old-timey sun bonnets, local photography, note cards, quilts, wool-filled comforters, plus primitive and folk art signs, ornaments and other decorative items.
Food items will include sausage biscuits, country ham slices, sausage, bacon, free-range chickens (frozen), jams, pickled okra, garlic and beets, fried pies, dry beans, heirloom red cornmeal and grits, pickles, cakes, cookies, scones, loaf breads, sweet breads, pies, pumpkin logs, fall vegetables and greens, chai and other tea blends and granola.
Wreaths, bird feeders, children’s books, and baskets will also be featured.
Crafters from Craig County include Cassondra Ratliff with goat-milk bath and beauty products; Karen Golumbeck with decorative stone and shell birdhouses, steel cutouts (welcome signs, stars, cowboys, etc.), wind chimes and yard ornaments; Elizabeth and Adam Taylor of Singing Spring Farm with free-range chickens (frozen), heirloom red cornmeal and grits, tea blends, greens, pickled okra and greens; Angie Keffer and Tracy Early of Dairy Barn Primitives will bring handmade primitives and folk art; Kirstann Edwards and Jackie Burns of Sinking Creek Wool Company will have needle felted wool Christmas ornaments, felted wool pictures and soaps and wool-filled comforters; and Ann Harrell, Creekside Creations, will have barn wood-framed photography, note cards and wall calendars.
This market accepts SNAP (and even doubles the token value for purchase of fruits and vegetables) and accepts debit cards. Some vendors do accept credit/debit card payments, although many accept only cash.
BBQ, Brunswick stew, hotdogs, hamburgers, chips, soft drinks, coffee and hot chocolate will be available for purchase from the Catawba Volunteer Fire Department.
Information on each vendor, along with photos of their wares, as well as updates on the Holiday Market, may be found on Facebook at Catawba Valley Farmers Market. Information may also be obtained by contacting Ann G. Harrell, Market Manager, at 540.864.5913 or catawbafarmersmarket@outlook.com.
-Submitted by Ann Harrell, Manager Catawba Valley Farmers Market
