Market fundraiser planned
Published 9:28 pm Thursday, March 25, 2010
Community members are looking for help to restore a lost community treasure and landmark in north Suffolk.
The Market, located at the corner of Bridge Road and Eclipse Drive, burned on March 3. The property owners have decided to rebuild the structure, and community members are preparing to throw a fundraiser to help the business’s owners raise enough money to get the shop back up and running.
“The market has been there since 1927,” said Connie Andrews, who is helping lead the fundraising efforts. “The current owners have been there for the past nine years, and have become such good friends of the community. We love going up there to get food, camaraderie, and it was such a nostalgic building. We want to see them get up and going again.”
A fundraiser will be held Saturday, 3-7 p.m. at the Crittenden, Eclipse and Hobson Ruritan Club on Eclipse Drive. Entrance donation is $10.
“The community has really pulled together for us,” said Michelle March, who helped her mom, the storeowner, with the Market. “We didn’t ask for a thing. The neighborhood just came up. They’ve done all the legwork on this. It’s unbelievable.”
Through the community efforts, Saturday’s events will include music from the Island Boy Band and a silent auction with items such as fishing poles and reels, a handmade boat bumper, a handmade afghan, gift certificates and gift baskets from local retailers.
There also will be a barbecue with hot dogs, sandwiches, chips, drinks and Brunswick stew for sale; a bake sale; a 50/50 raffle and a drawing for a 42-inch plasma television.
For the children, the fire department is bringing out a fire truck, and there will also be a clown.
“It’s really been good to know how much they care,” March said. “It’s been motivating. We looked at everything we lost and how hard it would be to get back up. But this really built us up.”
While the event alone will not be able to replace the approximately $80,000 in losses sustained in the fire, “It’s a good start,” March said. “We don’t anticipate being able to restock it like it was and replace all the equipment immediately, but we’ll build it back up.”