Local businesses to offer first ever Village Center ‘Strawberry Fields Fest’

East Hampton’s Village Center will be transformed on June 13 and 14 to welcome town residents to the first Strawberry Fields Fest.

The celebration will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. both days, and will feature live entertainment, a Farmers’ Market, a caricature artist, artist vendors and special offerings from the Village Merchants - all centering around strawberries.

Organizers, Todd Schrager and Wendell Maynard, say they were looking for a way to promote Maynard’s fresh fruit and vegetable business/farmers’ market in East Hampton.

Both Schrager and Maynard live and work, and raise their children in East Hampton.

Then they expanded on their inspiration to involve, promote and support the Village Center and its merchants.

Schrager said, “We became very excited about the prospect of breathing new life into the Center and bringing a new and different type of attraction to East Hampton.”

Maynard added, “We would love this to be an annual event.”

The idea has since garnered the support of many in the community.  Chair of the East Hampton Economic Development Commission Rich Leone said, “Strawberry Fields integrates the two biggest goals of the EDC.  They [Schrager and Maynard] have come up with a wonderful plan to get traffic patterns streaming through the Village Centre by having the merchants working cohesively toward a common goal.  We wholeheartedly endorse this event.”

Red Door Boutique - which will offer special discounts for the weekend - is also collecting strawberry recipes.  Anyone who contributes their favorite strawberry recipe will be entered into a drawing for a $100 gift certificate.

The recipes will be used to create the “Strawberry Fest Sweet Success Cookbook,” which will be sold at the 2010 Strawberry Fields Fest.

Anne Wales explained, “All proceeds will go to a scholarship for any local student interested in pursuing a career in fashion, marketing or visual merchandising.  We [Wales and business partner Christina Kaiko] have been searching for a way to fund this scholarship for a while, and the Strawberry Fields Fest provided the perfect creative outlet for this endeavor.”

President of the Joseph N. Goff House Terry Concannon said she feels that this is, “a great way to energize the heart of the Village Center!”

The Goff House will offer fried dough with a variety of topping options - including, of course, sliced strawberries - for $3, with proceeds to benefit the museum.

Almost all of the Village Merchants are participating with specials only for that weekend, and other local businesses have jumped on board.

Epoch Arts will have cast members on hand promoting their production of “Love” which is being performed the same weekend.

Sweet Cravings will highlight their strawberry-flavored treats, including sundaes, ice cream and smoothies.

Other participating businesses include Tinkling Teacups, Center Package Store, Rossini’s, X-Change for Change, Governor’s Tavern, All About Blinds, Island Traders’ Coffee, Creations Framing and Old Bank Antiques.

Live Entertainment Schedule

Alex Flanigan    Sat.  11 a.m. to noon

EHHS Jazz Band Sat.  12:30 to 2:30 p.m.

Todd/Ian Schrager Sat.  3 to 5 p.m.

The Terry Rand Band   Sun. noon to 2 p.m.

Other Attractions

Farmers’ Market

Various vendors selling hand-made jewelry, art, clothing, gourmet food, antiques, and more.

“Wild Bill” drawing caricatures on Sunday.

Posted May 25, 2009

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