Hamlet City Lake Pop-up Market sees biggest weekend

HAMLET – Paws for Paddles was not the only event at Hamlet City Lake this weekend with the third iteration of the Hamlet City Lake Pop-Up Market offering visitors a variety of homemade, homegrown and handcrafted items.

After multiple hiccups due to inclement weather, City of Hamlet Events Coordinator Mechelle Preslar considered Saturday’s event the biggest of the season so far with dozens of vendors lining the banks of Hamlet City Lake.

“This is our our third one. We started this in April. It’s the first Saturday of every month from April to October, and it’s from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.,” Preslar said. “This is our largest one. So far, the weather has been pretty good – windy. Last month, the rain came in a little early, but today is the best weather we’ve had.”

Saturday’s event ran concurrently with the Paddles for Paws fundraiser for Richmond County Operation Fix, which provides funding to offset the cost of spay and neutering pets. Preslar was one of many Paddles for Paws kayakers making a jaunt to Hamlet City Lake Park.

“We are also cohosting with Richmond County Operation Fix … We have kayaks. We have shops and vendors and now we’re taking a break to have some lunch,” Preslar said. “The great thing about it is, when we had our first one, a lot of these (vendors) are core – people that have been coming since April, but the biggest thing is word of mouth. Somebody knows somebody who makes something unique. They tell them, and then they contact us. We are very pleased with the amount of vendors that we have and the products they’re offering.”

Dozens of vendors lined the banks of Hamlet City Lake last Saturday as part of an event local entrepreneurs find crucial for developing their businesses and meeting new potential clients. Sandra Sweatt, owner of Sandra’s Pillows, sets up a booth showcasing everything from pillow backpacks for travel to handmade memory foam pillows, and she also creates memory pillows to commemorate a special event.

“I love to make pillows. If I sell them, then that’s just icing on the cake … [The Pop-Up Market] is very important. There are other tents out here like me. I always buy something out here. They always have something I can’t buy in the store,” Sweatt said. “I love meeting people. I’ve met about 10 people already. We’ll have one next month too. It’s the first Saturday of each month until August.”

Preslar said the Hamlet City Lake Pop-Up Market is a pilot program, but it could expand from a monthly event to a bi-weekly or weekly event if word of mouth continues attracting new visitors and vendors.

“This is our trial run, the first time we’ve ever done these. If they become really popular, which we think they will, we could do them more often, but right now we’re doing them monthly,” Preslar said.

With the City of Hamlet making a recent investment in Hamlet City Lake, including renovating facilities and adding amenities, Preslar said she hopes to have more events there in the future.

“I do a lot of events at the depot. We have food trucks on Fridays and concerts, but I wanted to do something at the city lake. We have grant money. We’re going to start doing renovations. We are doing a disc golf course on the other end,” Preslar said. “The city did buy the lake view property down there. I’m going to start planning more events at City Lake. Plus, the traffic of (highway) 74 going by. A lot of times, we hear people say ‘We just saw people out here, and we stopped.’ So just being visible and by the road, I think it brings in a lot of traffic.”