Shoppers at the Oasis Vendor Market on Saturday not deterred by the heat

[September 03, 2021]   Though Saturday was a suffocatingly hot day in Lincoln and Logan County, shoppers at the Oasis Vendor Market were not dissuaded from making their way around the walking track visiting the numerous vendors along the way.

The market is another of those features of the old balloon festival that have in recent years returned during the Balloons Over 66 weekend, in a modified version.

Three years ago at the first event, the market was held in Scully Park as had been the tradition. In 2020, in an effort to keep the event Covid-compliant and safe for all, the market was moved to the asphalt walking track behind the Oasis Senior Center on Woodlawn Road. That year, people were asked to travel one way around the track, observe social distancing and wear face masks when interacting with vendors. Everyone did as they were asked and the event in 2020 went off swimmingly.

The walk about at the Oasis was so well received, and being aware there are still concerns about coronavirus, the Oasis decided to keep the market on the track again this year.

Shoppers seemed to be delighted with the plan. Even though it was hot, there were opportunities to stop and visit with vendors under the shade of their tents and the track has metal benches for sitting and resting a spell along the way.

Among the vendors on Saturday were Ivan and Roberta Rademaker. They thought they were having a good day, and they were managing the heat pretty well. Roberta commented that it wasn’t too bad under the shade of the tent. In addition, they had cold beverages in the truck and the Oasis was coming around from time to time checking to see if people needed cold bottled water.

Ivan makes wood furniture pieces and featured a large inventory of his work including a nice selection of doll furniture. Roberta is also handy and makes doll clothing that she sells along with other interesting items.

Other familiar faces included local Tupperware dealer Darlene Begolka who was set up right next to the Railsplitter Association table.

Bob and Cindy Dunovsky had items for sale from Bob’s Woodshed. Bob is a newcomer to the art vendor market selling his wood carved items such as bread bowls, decorative items, and utility items such as ink pens and a pizza cutter that could cut through a one-inch thick piece of plywood no problem. When Bob’s craft started producing a lot of left over resin, wife Cindy decided she needed to figure out some way to repurpose the leftovers so she started doing pieces using that resin. The items she had Saturday were beautiful and there was a wide variety of pieces that drew the attention of many shoppers.

The Oasis also opened up Granny’s Attic in the storage garage behind the main building. There, shoppers found many of the same items that they would find inside at the Oasis Gift Shop including floral arrangements, wreaths, and many other handmade items.

The Oasis was also providing snacks for sale outside including snow cones that were very popular.

The Oasis also hosted their annual Corn and Chicken Feed. Visitors could buy their lunch or dinner to go, dine outside, or take advantage of the air conditioning and dine inside.

All told, the event was well attended and vendors were delighted with the way their sales were going. With two successful years behind them at the walking track, it could be a safe bet to say the market has found its new permanent home for future years at the Balloons Over 66 weekend.

[Nila Smith]