Saturday marked the return of the Kosciusko County Farmers and Artisans Market in downtown Warsaw. Buying products from Denney Farms of Silver Lake was the Mitchell family. From left: Seller Nick Denney, Jody Mitchell, Lukas Mitchell and Scott Mitchell. Tzume the dog is in front. InkFreeNews photos by Leah Sander.

By Leah Sander
InkFreeNews

WARSAW — The first county farmers market of the year drew visitors from Louisiana and Muncie.

Saturday, May 1, marked the return of the Kosciusko County Farmers and Artisans Market for 2021. It brought 30 vendors selling everything from baked goods to tie-dyed T-shirts to flowers to downtown Warsaw.

Among those at the 9 a.m.-1 p.m. event was Lessie Griffith, who’s from DeRidder, La. She had come up for a family event and was at the market with her niece, Audrey Dempsey.

Though she didn’t sell Saturday, Dempsey normally sells baked goods at the market through the business GRABA Cake.

Also there were George and Mary Conlon of Muncie, who were visiting family in the area.

“We’ve come out here before and we’ve really enjoyed it,” said Mary Conlon. “You have a beautiful community. I’m very impressed.”

Among the booths people could choose to buy items from was Chair Caning by Little Hawk. He sells chairs and also repairs the weaving in them. He said he’s had a booth at the farmers market for two years.

A veteran who served 20 years in the Army, he’s been caning chairs for 25 years.

“We inherited some chairs that all needed fixed and someone taught me how and I’ve been doing it ever since,” he said.

He will be at the market in the coming weeks or people may call 260-327-3228 for his services.

People could also buy crocheted and knitted items and other similar items at the booth manned by Katherine Schmidt and her son, Christian Schmidt.

Katherine Schmidt noted that five generations of her family are crafters.

Her brother, Glenn Handley, is a cancer survivor and the family uses money raised from the sales to buy his children Christmas gifts.

The Schmidts’ booth will be at the farmers market in coming weeks or people may contact Katherine Schmidt to purchase items via emailing [email protected] and putting “Market Products” in the subject line.

Christian Schmidt sits at his booth.

Chairs that were available for sale at Chair Caning by Little Hawk’s booth.

Performing at the event were Elizabeth Aalbue, left, of Wheaton, Ill., and Samuel Schmidt, of Warsaw. Schmidt, who uses the stage name Sam Ule, has performed at the market since 2016.

Chatting at the market are from left: Rachael and Steve Messmore, Sue Emmons and Kay Gilson. Walter, the dog, is in front.