Maplewood Village Welcomes Spring Today!

Until 7 pm tonight, Maplewood Village hosts its first ever Spring Open Market. Downtown sidewalks were thronged from around noon on, with hundreds of people sampling the wares of the 38 local merchants participating in the event which included live music, wine tastings and outdoor dining.

St. James Gate pub was selling lobster rolls and lobster sliders, Sona Indian restaurant offered a selection of dishes (and had the advantage of tables in the shade) while Crane's Deli and Cheese shop proferred hog dogs with the trimmings and Arturo's staff scooped out sorbet and cooked chicken tacos on an outdoor grill.

Maplewood Village Alliance manager Amy Koehler said the open market was a collaborative effort. Mary Vayas at No. 165, Hanh Truong at Little One & Co., Dan Richer at Arturo's, Rosetta Weiser at Village Wine and Michele Bessey at Perch were hugely influential with event planning.

“I had a spring sidewalk sale last year but they helped me expand on that idea for this year's event,” Koehler said.

The weather was perfect, sunny in the low 80s with a breeze.

Mary Vayas, owner of No.165, had been looking forward to the day. “We wanted to put together an event that would encourage the community to come out, shop locally and have a lot of fun.”

Vayas, a Maplewood native, hosted a Dove chocolate tasting event throughout the day and had a caricature artist available from 2-4 p.m.

There were also lots of springtime goodies such as scarves and bags, floral arrangements, and antiques for sale on the sidewalk.

The folks from Shed, which doesn't open for a couple of weeks, took advantage of the crowd to hand out balloons and let people know they're coming soon.

Interviewed earlier in the week, Jonah Zimiles, owner of Words, said he was excited about the event.

“It’s always a pleasure to work with local merchants and we think this is terrific for the community, he said.

Dan Richer, owner of Arturo’s, said he wanted to put his personal twist on the event. “I love street food but I wanted to do something different than the traditional Italian street food. I decided to make chicken tacos."

There was also live music from groups such as Go Ask Your Mother and Felt. Attendees had the opportunity to win one of eleven gift baskets filled with the wares from Village shops, including jewelry, clothing, CDs, candles, and gift certificates. The raffle drawing was conducted by Maplewood Mayor Vic De Luca.

Editor's note: The Patch staff spent three hours getting some nice sun at our table outside Arturo's and enjoyed meeting all of the folks who stopped by. Thanks from general manager Jon Brod, ad sales director Rebecca Hughes and regional editor Steve Johnson.