Two-day 'Route 26 Market' set for April at JES gym

Tami Schwartz, right, and Debi Anderson, left, pose with their awards from the Festival of Trees in Colfax. They entered a ladder tree to promote the Route 26 Market.

A new market is set to hit the Colfax scene in April, and the organizers of it are hoping to make a splash here.

“It's a vintage market,” said Debi Anderson, one of the founders of Route 26 Market. “There's other ones like it put on around the country.”

Another founder is Tami Schwartz of LaCrosse. They have been selling vintage items and attending vintage shows in the area, and the idea for the Route 26 Market evolved from that.

The duo, along with friend Nancy Thorson of Tekoa, decided to bring the market to Colfax.

“We're trying to hit a niche that hasn't been hit here before,” said Anderson.

Anderson said she has taken old doors and repurposed them into headboards. She has also done a lot of work with windows and boards.

“We had been doing these vintage shows, and we thought this would be so much fun to have here,” she said. “We thought if we could bring one to Whitman County, it would boost the economy here.”

The Route 26 Market is currently taking applications for vendors for the first show in April.

“We already have some vendors lined up, and our applications have been going out,” said Anderson. “So far it's kind of rolling right along.”

For the vendors, they are looking specifically for vintage or repurposed items, rather than craft items. There are currently six vendors signed up, and there is room for more.

“Anything rustic, we love rustic,” said Anderson. “Vintage clothing, vintage jewelry, anything vintage.”

Anderson said she attended three vintage markets in the last year, and she previously attended markets some years ago.

“I had sold a couple of pieces, but it was more of a hobby for me,” she said. “And then we started going to the shows and said, 'let's bring this to Colfax.'”

She said she has heard a lot of excitement for the market from the community.

“People are excited about it, they really are,” she said.

The Route 26 Market entered the Festival Trees at the Whitman County Library and took home two prizes for its ladder-decorated tree: kids' favorite tree and most creative tree.

The tree had a sign that indicated the market would be coming in 2017.

The first market is planned for Friday and Saturday, April 7 and 8, at the Jennings Elementary School gym. It will run from 3 to 8 p.m. each day.

Anderson said the event was purposefully planned to coincide with Washington State University's Mom's Weekend.

“We're hoping to get some of the moms as they come into town,” she said.

Anderson said the hope is also for this to not be a one-time event.

“We're hoping to do one this fall as well,” she said. “We're going to see how this one goes.”

Anderson said she is very excited to see the market in Colfax.

“We thought this would be so much fun. I am excited for it,” said Anderson. “Vintage markets are the in thing right now. It's just a happy place to be.”

To apply to be a vendor or to get more information, contact the market:

route26vintagemarket@gmail.com

Schwartz at 509-288-0803

Anderson at 509-595-1294