Market has successful first year
Silver Valley Market Chili Cook-off winners Tyler Wingerson and Brendan Bonner stand next to People’s Choice winners Heidi Lee and Keith Dary. The cook-off was part of the final market of the season event last week. Photo courtesy of NATHAN DUGAN/kelloggphotoandgallery.com
The Silver Valley Chamber office was packed as hungry market goers consumed 10 large pots of homemade chili.
Last week the Silver Valley Market wrapped up its inaugural season, and if the first season is any indication of where the weekly seasonal event is going, the sky may be the limit.
With a weekly attendance of around 300 people, the market quickly became one of the more popular events through the summer and carried into the chilly fall before calling it a wrap last Thursday.
The event was a baptism by fire for new Silver Valley Chamber director Mallory Phillips, who along with Nathan Dugan and Sarah Murphy, worked tirelessly to make sure that each week the vendors had their spots marked, managed traffic, while still promoting and supporting the event.
“We couldn’t have done any of this without the vendors and all of our other volunteers who came regularly or as much as they possibly could,” Phillips said. “All of the support we had made this possible.”
The market had a fairly significant fiscal impact during its 19-week run, as more than $50,000 was put back into the community through the market.
The final week was one to remember, as many people flocked to the market to take part in the chili cook-off competition.
Ten different competitors made 10 very different kinds of chili, ranging from chicken chili, spicy chili and even a vegan chili, which were judged by a panel of local celebrity judges before market visitors were able to grab a bite to eat as well.
In the end, it was Tyler Wingerson and Brendan Bonner who took home the top honors from the judges, but it was Heidi Lee and Keith Dary from the 1313 Club who brought home the people’s choice award.
In the weeks leading up the final event, visitors were also encouraged to vote on their favorite vendors from a multitude of categories and they were announced that evening following the chili cook-off.
The winners are as follows:
- Favorite Food Vendor: North Idaho Bagel Co.
- Favorite Drink Vendor: Booch So Rad
- Favorite Craft Vendor: Creations by Christina
- Best Vendor to Buy Gifts From: Sue Roper
- Favorite Apparel Vendor: Knotty Ridge Creations
- Favorite Body Care Vendor: Jayme Jayne
- Favorite Sweets Vendor: Timbers Tasty Treats
- Favorite Farm Vendor: Terratopia Gardens and Goats
- Favorite Overall Vendor: Jayme Jayne
- Favorite Musician: SonofaBuck
“We were so happy with how this first season went,” Phillips said. “We are proud of how so many people got involved and that we were able to help create such a big economic impact in just our first year. I can’t wait to see what we can do in our next season.”
Phillips plans to host more of the wildly popular cook-off events throughout the next season as well.