North Salem Strawberry Stomp set for Thursday
by Lindsay Doty
For the last three years, the tiny town of North Salem has held a Strawberry Festival to celebrate the community and sell the summer fruit. But this year, they had to adjust plans.
“With the state’s reopening stage where it is at we couldn’t technically hold a festival, so we are doing something different,” explains organizer and North Salem resident Kristi Vaughn.
Instead, there will be a Strawberry Stomp on Thursday (June 25) during the North Salem Farmers Market. It will include live music and old-fashioned strawberry shortcake.
“The shortcake is actually my grandmother’s recipe. It’s the old-fashioned cake, not the yellow one,” explains Vaughn, whose five kids plan to make signs for the stomp with sayings like “Be Happy, Eat Cake.”
“We are just hoping to bring something positive and fun,” she says.
The strawberries will come from locally-owned Chandler’s Farm and Country Market.
“The whole reason the group was started is to bring attention to the town and improve the town. We only have around 500 people.”
To keep things safe at the Strawberry Stomp, volunteers donning masks and gloves will be serving guests on socially-distant picnic benches with hand sanitizer nearby.
The Strawberry Stomp will also have local vendors, including Miller’s Ice Cream Shop and Come Hang Out Thrift Store.
What: North Salem Strawberry Stomp
When: Thursday, June 25
5 p.m. -7:30 p.m. Start serving at 4:30 p.m.
Where: North Salem Farmers Market, 5 W Pearl St. downtown North Salem
What: Old-fashioned strawberry shortcake and live music
Cost: $3 per shortcake