It was a wet and chilly Saturday morning on July 16 when the first ever P&H Elevator Market was hosted at the facility, but the less than ideal weather did not keep people indoors as they started filing steadily to see what the market had in store for them.
“The market went well and we raised about $123 from donations,” said Angela Vanderburg, main organizer and summer student at P&H. “We were very happy with the amount of people that came through that have never seen the local elevator and the work that have been put into restoring it by the volunteers.”
At the market there were seven vendors who had set up shop, their offerings ranging from art work to essential oils.
“The market brought in locals from Stettler who would have never come to the elevator otherwise,” added Vanderburg. “Every new person that came and saw the elevator and the associated operation was impressed.”
One of the vendors was a mixed media artist from Erskine, Francien Verhoeven.
“For artists, it’s always nice when venues are available for showing the art to the public and to have an opportunity for having the art for sale,” said Verhoeven. “I have participated in the Edmonton Art Walk and the Taste of Edmonton, which are large venues, but over the years, I have participated in several small venues as well, which are fun, too.”
According to Verhoeven, what was particularly interesting about the P&H market was the combination of things.
“After all, the building of the old wooden structure, the elevator itself, took a lot of creativity at the time it was built, and so it is with painting pictures,” noted Verhoeven. “It’s all about a vision one wants to share, but generally speaking, markets are always a hit-and-miss when it comes to the selling of art, the right person has to come along for a particular painting to be sold.”
Vanderburg hopes to host it again but wants to create a lot more awareness first to attract even more community.
“It would be nice to host it again however I would advertise a bit more beforehand,” said Vanderburg.