Week three of the Grow Newberry Farmers Market is in the books. If you have not made it to the market in Memorial Park in downtown Newberry, please mark your calendars from 9 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. each Saturday of June and July so that you won’t miss fresh produce, honey, plants, soaps, baked goods, and more. We thank The Newberry Observer for being our Sustainer Sponsor for this season.

Our first Farm to Table dinner will take place Thursday evening. Attendees will enjoy local meat, produce, wines, and desserts prepared by local chefs. Tickets are sold out, but feel free to contact us to see if any have been freed up. The Dinner kicks off Newberry County’s portion of the 2017 SC Ag+Art Tour.

Saturday from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1 until 5 p.m., you can visit Black Grove Farm, Carolina Pride Pastures, Bowers Farm, Enoree River Winery, Mike Meetze Tree Farm, and the Grow Newberry Farmers Market.

Visitors get to tour real working farms and visit with and observe local artists’ work during this tour. We are seeking volunteers to work the counter at each venue so that we can keep an accurate account of the visitors. Pick up tour booklets with descriptions of all locations at the Chamber this week.

Saturday at 11 a.m., Amanda McNulty and the team from ETV’s Making It Grow will hold an unplugged version of their show at the Newberry Opera House. Admission is free and first come, first served. Seating will begin at 10:30 a.m. Saturday in Memorial Park, the City of Newberry is sponsoring a free family movie The Hundred-Foot Journey. Bring your chairs, blankets, and snacks, and enjoy this comedy-drama that will begin at nightfall.

Newberry EclipseFest planning is in full swing. Folks from Newberry Opera House, The Ritz, Newberry Downtown Merchants Association, Newberry College, Newberry Library, Piedmont Technical College, the City of Newberry, and Chamber are busy planning a four day event leading up to the total eclipse on Aug. 21.

We want to be able to provide as many activities for free for the many residents and visitors who will come out for the events, including hands-on art activities, a solarium that will make the viewer feel like they are walking on the sun, movies at the Opera House and Ritz, visits with Astronaut Don Thomas, and much more.

GreatAmericanEclipse.com estimates that “between 547,000 and 2,188,000 people will travel to the path of totality in South Carolina.” Volunteers and sponsors are needed to make this human event most memorable.

This event would be a great opportunity for homeowners to take advantage of Airbnb. Similar to Augusta residents who rent out their homes and rooms for The Masters, Newberry County folks could rent their homes or rooms for the Eclipse.

For information on these and other events, contact us at the Chamber at 803-276-4274, or visit us at 1209 Caldwell St. on the first floor of Community Hall in downtown Newberry.

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Michelle Long

Contributing Columnist

Michelle Long is executive director of the Newberry Chamber of Commerce. Contact her at michelle@newberrycounty.org.