On Saturday the 20th, the Plains Art Museum made this bitterly cold season much more pleasant by providing an indoor venue for the Red River Winter Market. Local vendors sold a wide variety of food and drink items in an assorted mix of scents and flavors, along with handcrafted items like soaps and bath bombs, tea mixes, and jewelry made from bottle caps.
On the museum’s first floor, three local musicians—Eric Jacobson, Tristan Larson, and Lacey Guck—serenated the crowd, playing music that carried over to the second and third floors.
On each floor there were bins labeled Trash, Compost, and Recycle, meant to minimize waste and keep the event green.
Family-friendly activities included face-painting, snowman crafts, and a children’s library. Meanwhile, on the third floor, Hannaher, Inc. set up a print studio, where participants of all ages could create monotype plant prints with dried plant life, black paint, and multicolored papers. Local artist Nichole Rae also conducted an art journaling workshop, where patrons walked away with their own handmade mixed-media card sets.
Because hot beverages are must sought-after this time of year, Steep Me a Cup of Tea provided free samples in two tasty flavors: ginger dreams and Dakota prairie rose. For anyone in need of warm apparel, Ten Seven Acres, known for their alpaca products, sold knitted hats and socks, as well as yarn bundles for anyone wanting to knit something themselves. One unique item they had in store was dryer balls, which can be used for laundry.
A diverse set of alcoholic beverages was also in abundance. 4e Winery served hot mulled sangria in flavors such as rhubarb, prairie star, Frontenac Gris, and rail line red. Prairie Rose Meadery served ginger sour and blackberry ginger cocktails, while bottled mead available for purchase included flavors like vanilla cinnamon, pineapple chipotle, and orange spice. Their table displayed a sign with their slogan, “From Bee to Bottle.”
They weren’t the only ones selling products from honeybees: up on the second floor, Three Bears Honey Co. offered both jars and bear-shaped bottles of pure honey. Other locally-owned food vendors included Folcstede Farms, Doubting Thomas Farms, Heart & Soil Farm, and Becky’s Plants & Flowers. In addition to jams, vegetables, and rolled oats, baked goods such as pies, cookies, donuts, and scones were also being sold. For anyone who arrived craving breakfast items that morning, Café Amaury served French crepes filled with lemon sugar, honey walnuts, and Nutella.
Among the market’s more unique vendors were Dakotah Beard Oils and Brew Chewz. The former sold beard oils in a variety of scents, such as cinnamon, cedar, lemongrass, lavender, and frankincense. There was even one oil made with citronella, designed to repel mosquitos. The latter sold organic dog treats made out of pumpkins, carrots, blueberries, and other unusual ingredients.
