Show your mother some love with elegant crafts

One cannot possibly be too extravagant when it comes to buying a Mother’s Day gift – after all, your mother brought you into this world. Therefore, it’s important to find something special and unique for Mother’s Day. The Alden Farmers Market will feature a Mother’s Day craft show on their opening day, Saturday, May 12, and will showcase a splendid array of potential gifts and elegant items.

Between 15 and 20 craft vendors will be coming to the show, although many are waiting to confirm their spots due to their unpredictable weather this year. The Mother’s Day craft show has been going on for six or seven years now, with an array of possible gifts for the mothers of Alden and every other community.

“A lot of them wait until the last minute to decide, because the weather can be questionable,” said Nancy Hughes, a board member at the Alden Chamber of Commerce and manager of the farmers market. “Because the weather is unsettled, a lot of crafters don’t decide until fairly close to the show. We usually, on opening day, will have regular produce people, and most come in later with crops. A couple farmers will be there with early crops, unless this weekend’s weather is killing them.”

There will also be honey and maple products for sale, plants, garden decorations made of wood, stone, and cement, jewelry, fabric purses, placements, and a variety of other crafts made by independent crafters. Plus, the Leonard Oakes Estate Winery of Medina will host a tasting of their high-quality, award-winning vino. Leonard Oakes will be at the Alden market a total of four times this season, including the Father’s Day craft show on June 16. Parenting can be stressful – both mothers and fathers need to unwind with wine!

Two brothers from the Marilla area will offer their homemade kettle corn – a new addition to the market this year, and just the thing to munch on while browsing and bargain hunting.

“It’s always exciting to see the community come together and gather at the market, and be excited to see who is new at the market and what crafts are going to be there,” Hughes said. “Craft shows are a good way for kids to get something small for their mothers; the crafts tend not to be really expensive things and tend to be affordable. Teenagers can find something different and unique that mom knows was made locally, and not churned out by a department store, so it might have more meaning to it. It’s a fun shopping experience for everybody.”

Other craft shows are planned for the season.

“We’re looking forward to putting together other shows during the season, and there are craft shows throughout May because there’s not much in the way of produce,” Hughes said. “To make the market interesting and fun, we do the craft shows in May.”

On May 19 the market will feature something very interesting and different, llama shearing, with llama-related crafts like beautiful knit hats and mittens.

“We had a llama person at the end of the season last year, and it turned out to be a cold, raw, funky day and they sold a lot of hats and mittens,” Hughes said. “I really hope that doesn’t happen on May 19!”

On May 26 there will be a general craft sale (Memorial Day weekend). At the beginning of August, there will be the much-anticipated, village-wide garage sale complete with crafts. People can bring in household items and set up a sale/table at the market. There will be craft shows on Sept. 1 and 29, too. If you are interested in becoming a craft vendor at one of the sales, call the Chamber office at 937-6177, or send an e-mail to secretary@Aldenny.org.

“We hope to see a lot of pop-up tents with new people underneath them,” Hughes said.