Find fresh food, crafts and treats in new location

This Saturday, the Shallotte Farmers Market will move from the town hall parking lot to Lions Club Park beside Shallotte Plaza on Main Street. It will give the public easier access to vendors and the vendors a more comfortable, shadier spot for selling.

My daughter and I went to the last market day at town hall last Saturday to talk to a few people and get photos for an upcoming story for the Beacon’s Island Living magazine.

She served as my sidekick, writing her own “notes” as I made the rounds from table to table.

We definitely got a few comments for our unique approach to reporting.

I was impressed with the quality and quantity of fresh fruits and vegetables and by the friendliness of the vendors and the number of unique items for sale like handmade quilts and pillows and even gourd birdhouses.

The vendors told me they were very much looking forward to moving from the hot, asphalt parking lot where they baked in the sun to the shady riverfront park, where they would reap the rewards of being close to the Shallotte Plaza parking lot.

It’s a timely move, considering the heat is only going to get worse as time goes on.

Kudos to the town for making the move easy and fast.

The Downtown Shallotte committee chairman and the farmers market chairman made a pitch at the last town board meeting for the move, with market chairman Linda Herrick citing requests from vendors and their eagerness to move to the park.

The committee members also said they were preparing the park for the market. Town aldermen did not hesitate to approve the request after hearing all the groundwork the committee members had done.

It was a timely reaction that showed good faith between the committee and the board.

HHHHH

Christmas came a good five months early for one Shallotte woman.

The N.C. Education Lottery reports Tina Murphy of Shallotte struck it rich during a trip to buy some gas and get a car wash at the Dodge City BP next to Naber Chrysler. She won $250,000 playing the “$250,000 Cash Bonanza” instant scratch-off game.

Murphy said she went inside to pay for the gas when she decided on a whim to buy two “$250,000 Cash Bonanza” tickets.

While sitting in her car in the car wash, she scratched the tickets and found she won $50 on the first ticket and the top prize of $250,000 on the second.

Murphy called her husband to tell him the good news, then went back inside the store to have the cashier scan the ticket to check that it was a winner.

She says she plans to use some of the money to take her family on a vacation to the Caribbean.

Congratulations, Tina. Enjoy your vacation.

sarah shew wilson is a staff writer for the Beacon. Reach her at 754-6890 or swilson@brunswickbeacon.com.