Celebrate Food Independence

This weekend, we celebrate the birthday of our nation with the usual parades and picnics and fireworks. At Local Roots, we're also celebrating our first year as an official cooperative! Our latest column in the Wooster Weekly News offers some thoughts on the subject.

We can't help you with local fireworks at Local Roots, but we sure can outfit your picnic basket! Stop by for some of the best summertime eating around!

Saturday, stop by the market between 9 AM and noon to see Terri Miller make and bake focaccia and whip up a variety of fresh herb pestos (one great way to preserve your summer herbs!). In addition, John Sterling of Johann's Bakery will offer samples of a variety of his freshly baked breads.

Take a look in the freezer for more picnic or family gathering ideas: Fox Hollow Farm has lamb breakfast patties and links as well as lamb chorizo.

Master Gardener Susan Sivey of Noah's Landing (7575 Brown Rd., Shreve) invites you to tour her gardens this Sunday, July 4, from 2 to 6 PM. Susan has daylilies for sale- most for $5 or less.

Don't forget, Wednesday, July 7th at 7 PM, the Local Roots Board will have their monthly meeting. Members are invited to attend in order to learn more about board business. We will elect new board members in September, so don't miss your chance to learn more about the operations at Local Roots.

Our first Artisan Day is coming up on Saturday, July 24th. Contact Jessica Eikleberry, market manager, to reserve your space today!

Volunteers for Marketing

If you missed our August 31 community meeting but wanted an opportunity to help us spread the word about Local Roots, here's your chance!

We invite you to meet with us at the Market (at 140 S. Walnut St., Wooster) on Tuesday, September 22nd at 6:00 PM to discuss and sign up for helping with specific marketing-related tasks including website, writing projects, promotion, event planning and more.

Please RSVP and let us know if you will be able to attend. If you have any questions prior to the meeting, feel free to send us an email at news (AT) localrootswooster (DOT) com!

We look forward to seeing you!
The Local Roots Marketing Team
Jessica Barkheimer
Jen Hugon
Jennifer McMullen

Community Meeting a Success!

Thanks to everyone who attended our community information meeting last evening! We appreciate the enthusiasm and ideas you brought to share with us.


Thanks to all the equipment contributions we've received from Buehler's and to all the colorful and delicious produce shared by steering committee members Monica Bongue and Bill Boyer (with additional produce from Weaver Truck Patch), the displays we set up in the front windows can give you an idea of how we hope the market will look once we're up and running.


We were very pleased with the turnout -- well over 80 interested people -- as well as with the number of volunteers who signed up to help with construction, painting, marketing, and staffing the pickup days. We'll get back to you very soon to let you know about work days at the market so that you can get your volunteer hours counted.

Among the handouts we had available for attendees were the September newsletter (PDF) and a list of potential events for the market. As always, if you have ideas, please drop us an email to share them!:

--To share news, articles, or ideas, email news AT localrootswooster DOT com
--To help plan events, email events AT localrootswooster DOT com


In the meantime, stop by your local farmers' market and find out if your favorite producers will be selling at Local Roots this winter. We're always happy to bring new producers on board!

Reminder: Public Meeting Monday

Don't forget, we're having a public information meeting this coming Monday about Local Roots:

Shoppers Meeting
Monday, August 31 at 7 PM
the Local Roots Building (140 S. Walnut St., Wooster)

Whether you're already a member, you're interested in membership but haven't signed up yet, or you just want to learn more, come to the meeting. The program will include:

--a review of the Local Roots concept
--overview of membership
--demonstration of the online order system
--discussion of future visions
--ideas for future community events
--a tour of the building

We will allow plenty of time for questions and answers, and we will have applications available and encourage everyone to fill out their forms at the meeting.

Refreshments will be provided by the steering committee. Since the building is still mostly empty, please bring a chair. Parking is available in the lot south of the building as well as across the street at the Wayne County Public Library.

We welcome all interested members and shoppers, and we hope to see you there!

Come join us!

Meeting for All Potential Members and Shoppers

Now that we've had a meeting specifically for interested producers at Local Roots, we're inviting all community members interested in shopping at Local Roots to attend a meeting to learn more.

Shoppers Meeting
Monday, August 31 at 7 PM
the Local Roots Building (140 S. Walnut St., Wooster)

Whether you're already a member, you're interested in membership but haven't signed up yet, or you just want to learn more, come to the meeting. The program will include:

--a review of the Local Roots concept
--overview of membership
--demonstration of the online order system
--discussion of future visions
--a tour of the building

We will allow plenty of time for questions and answers, and we will have applications available and encourage everyone to fill out their forms at the meeting.

Refreshments will be provided by the steering committee. Since the building is still mostly empty, please bring a chair. Parking is available in the lot south of the building as well as across the street at the Wayne County Public Library.

We welcome all interested members and shoppers, and we hope to see you there!

The Producers!

Our meeting for producer members (current and prospective) last night went very well. We had a large crowd of local producers show up for the presentation and discussion (and coffee and cookies!), and several people raised excellent questions and ideas.

A dozen or so producers volunteered to serve on the producer advisory council, and when we have the list narrowed down, we will let you all know who you can contact for questions about the producer guidelines and the details for selling products in the market (many of which will be worked out by this council).

Thanks to all who attended!

Producer Member Meeting

A reminder to all farmers, growers, bakers, and other producers interested in selling at Local Roots Market:

We are having a meeting for prospective producer members on Monday, August 10 at 7 PM at the market building located at 140 S. Walnut Street, Wooster, OH. The meeting will cover:

--a review of the Local Roots concept
--overview of the producer guidelines
--overview of the application process
--demonstration of the online order system
--discussion of the in-market sales procedure
--call for volunteers for a producer advisory council

We will allow plenty of time for questions and answers, and we will have applications available and encourage producers to fill out their forms at the meeting.

Refreshments will be provided by the steering committee. Since the building is still mostly empty, please bring a chair. Parking is available in the lot south of the building as well as across the street at the Wayne County Public Library.

We welcome all interested producers, and we hope to see you there!