Grand Island's small businesses enjoy outdoor fair

Story and Photos by Alice Gerard

Senior Contributing Writer

Creations by Sandy Merletti and Tammy Irving add the fun to cooking.

The two best friends create their designs in polymer clay, a type of clay that hardens in a kitchen oven, instead of a kiln.

They were at the vendor fair at Leaf, Stone and Steel, 1939 Grand Island Blvd., on June 8, to sell utensils decorated with such images as Buffalo Bills logos, musical notes and grapes.

“The biggest challenge is coming up with our design,” Merletti said. “We try to cover all bases. When we have dog lovers, we make dog utensils. We have a lot of wine lovers, so we make grapes. We try to make flowers, music, Buffalo Bills, the Bandits. We try to go with themes, like southwestern. That’s always the biggest challenge: coming up with what the design is going to be.”

Merletti said the process of creating and producing the designs is “very relaxing and therapeutic. And I get to do it with my best friend. We hang out and maybe sip a little wine while we’re creating and spending time together.”

“I like being creative, and I get to hang out with my BFF,” Irving said. “It’s something to do, and I like making people happy. I feel that these are very fun and happy. I just love being creative. I love all the colors. Also, I like to talk to people. God gave me the gift of gab. So, I get to talk to a lot of people. I get to meet a lot of nice people, people we’d never meet if we didn’t do this, and make a lot of good connections.”

“We have a Facebook page: Sammy Q’s Design,” Merletti said. “We have everything that we make. It’s all handmade, so it’s all one of a kind. Every time we make things, they’re all different. We put them on our Facebook site and we sell from there. And you can custom order. We had someone who got engaged during the Bandits game, so people ordered our Bandits set as a shower gift. The bride liked it so much, we made her cake server and knife for their wedding in a Bandits design also.”

Another one of the vendors, the owner of Sourdough by Amanda, said, “I’m selling all of our sourdough-based goods. We have some sweet, some savory, bagels, breads, scones. I got started because I wanted to make fresh stuff for my kids.”

Amanda’s three children are all toddlers.

When asked what she liked most about the event, Amanda said, “I like the interaction and being able to supply fresh baked goods to families that don’t have to worry about buying overprocessed stuff from the store.”

Kim Kalman and her daughter, Jenna, were selling self-watering plant stations.

“We just like to recycle and upcycle wine bottles or any kind of alcoholic bottle that’s empty,” Kalman said. “We cut it and turn it into a self-watering plant station. It has a water thread. The water is at the bottom of the bottle. You don’t really need to keep watering it. It self waters through that thread.

“The thread takes it up to the plant so you never have to water it. That water will need to be replaced, but it takes a while for that water… all of these plants really need a lot of water. That’s the whole idea of the water thread.”

When asked where she got the idea to create self-watering plant stations, Kalman said, “Jenna sent me an idea on Instagram. I do like and enjoy wine, so it was something I already had bottles of to try.”

Olivia, one of the helpers at the event, said there was a lot of interest in the fair.

“We had 20-30 people here at 11, as soon as it started,” she said. “That was really good, to see the Island coming out, supporting us, supporting each other. It was really nice to see everyone come together for that.

“Ever since the Haunted Market that was super successful last September, we wanted to do something more inclusive to the Island where we could have Island-owned businesses, have a pop-up market. Just get everyone to come out here and have a good time and open up more business to the community. The Island needs more events like this. I feel like they do really well. Getting the word out there.

“I just love the community of the Island. I love how everyone comes together for events like this. I love seeing the community get together and seeing everyone here. I love the Island community. It’s my favorite thing. I will never move off the Island.”

“This event is close to home, and they did a fantastic job putting it together,” Amanda said. “I appreciate all of my customers and people who have shared my business, and I’d hope to bring it to more people.”

“It’s fun,” Kalman said. “I don’t do a lot of vendor shows. This is honestly my first one, other than being in Relay For Life and having vendors around me. This is different and it’s fun.

“I want to thank Jason Sokody and their daughter, Carmen, who opened this store. It brought every garden lover on Grand Island into a place that’s local. It’s super fun. They do classes and workshops and all sorts of cool things.”

The next vendor fair is scheduled for the weekend of July 26-27, to celebrate Leaf, Stone and Steel’s first anniversary.

The first vendor fair at Leaf, Stone and Steel.