lively
Craft a holiday
shopping plan
Oregon Coast Artisans Market is the gift that keeps giving
By GRETCHEN AMMERMAN
For the TODAY
S
hop without getting online or in
line this winter at the Oregon Coast
Artisans Market, located in the
comfortable confines of the Lincoln City
Community Center. Every Sunday through
May 11, the market will feature jewelry,
bath and beauty products, blankets, clothing
and edible treats.
And if you are one of those people who
get their holiday shopping taken care of in
plenty of time, the market will also open
its doors on Saturdays for a pair of special
holiday editions on Nov. 16 and 30.
“There’s lots of cool stuff coming for
the holiday events,” said organizer and
vendor Geneva Campitelli. “There will be
similar items to our regular market but it’s
really going to be geared toward things
people would buy as gifts.”
And you can fuel your shopping spree
with sweet treats from a special vendor.
“Otis Café is going to be there,”
Campitelli said. “They are trying to find
ways to keep their employees busy while
they rebuild.”
The iconic cafe, which opened about
30 years ago, was destroyed by fire in July
leaving visitors and locals missing their
popular house-made breads and pies.
Though not a farmers market, vendors
like the Honey Pit and Walker Farms of
Siletz are two new booths you’ll find at
the regular weekly market, which started
on Oct. 13. Walker Farms will be selling
eggs, cheeses, canned vegetables, pastas
and jams.
“It’s anything people can make with
their hands,” Campitelli said. “Farmers
definitely fit into that.”
Campitelli, who sells bath and beauty
products at her booth Misty Morn, said
she and her husband had been hoping
to form something like this and things
finally fell into place this year.
“I got called by a vendor who said
14 • oregoncoastTODAY.com • facebook.com/oregoncoasttoday • November 8, 2019
they weren’t doing a winter market at the
cultural center anymore,” she said. “So
I started planning right away. It took a
month of work but we got it together.
It really fit in with our dreams for the
future.”
The Oregon Coast Artisans Market
is a registered non-profit 501C (6), with
decisions made by a board of directors.
“It’s a work in progress but we really
believe in giving people a place to sell
things they made with their hands,”
Campitelli said. “Everybody seems
really happy. We have a whole group of
awesome vendors that look out for each
other.”
Not being a registered farmers market
gives the board members some flexibly
about allowing vendors who use some
manufactured materials in their crafts.
“We are going to allow a certain
percentage of our vendors to not be
100 percent handcrafted,” Campitelli
said. “It has to be at least 50 perfect
handmade, like we wouldn’t allow Avon
or Tupperware sales — that’s a totally
different category. But If you make charms
to put on chains, you won’t get penalized
if you buy the chains, or if you dye a
shirt, you can buy the shirt. The finished
product is still going to be unique.”
With roughly 18 full-time vendors and
more that do not come regularly, there
is plenty of variety of both products and
producers.
“We are pretty much sold out of spots,”
Campitelli said. “We really have a lot
of amazing people on this coast making
beautiful things to wear or use and good
things to eat.”
The market runs from 10 am to 3
pm every Sunday at the Lincoln City
Community Center, 2150 NE Oar Place.
Campitelli recommends checking ahead for
the occasional blackout dates caused by events
at the Community center like swim meets.
For details, find the Oregon Coast Artisans
Market on Facebook.