Organ music and cooking demo highlight Alden Farmers Market

ALDEN - On Aug. 18, Alden Farmers Market customers will be entertained by live music as June Beyers plays her electronic Lowery Fiesta organ throughout the morning.

June plays a wide variety of music including “golden oldies”, country classics, Latin beat, Big Band sounds, Hawaiian favorites and other familiar music that is sure to please.

In addition, learn some great new tricks for using the season’s abundant produce. Deborah Helser of The Pampered Chef plans to demonstrate how to prepare and grill a variety of the many fruits and vegetables that are available from the market’s stands. Produce is at its mid-summer peak in this unusual weather season.

The Erie Co. SPCA is bringing kittens available for adoption, along with boxes so you can take them right home. They’ll also have information about SPCA programs.

And, next door, Tractor Supply will host its biggest pet event of the year, with a variety of free give-aways, in-store drawings for pet food and vet services, and a grand prize sweepstakes for a Ford F150 King Ranch Truck.

Live alpacas from Thistle Creek Alpaca farm, animals from Open Arms Rescue, and Greyhound dogs also will be on site.

Members of Alden Boy Scout Troop 117 will sell coffee, soft drinks, pizza and hotdogs.

The farmers market is sponsored by Alden’s Chamber of Commerce, which has begun selling tickets for its fall raffle of a fabulous basket of gift certificates, Lotto tickets, and special offers from a wide variety of local businesses. Worth approximately $1,000, the basket will be raffled at the Market on its Oct. 6 closing day.

Non-winners of this basket, plus the non-winners of the basket that was raffled on July 28, will be entered into a “second chance” raffle.

This prize is a delightful picnic basket donated by Elizabeth Harris of Country Kitchen & Gifts, one of the market’s long-standing vendors. The basket includes a beautiful handmade afghan, several jams and jellies and assorted gourmet teas and cocoas; it is valued at approximately $175. The drawing for it will be held after the drawing for the second “gift certificate basket” on Oct. 6.

Raffle tickets are just $1 and are also available at the Alden Advertiser, Alden Pharmacy, Carbone’s Pizza, TanFasticDan’s, and the Chamber of Commerce office.