Welcoming the Dude of Tea

For those of you who don't know, I managed the Copley Creekside Farmers Market for six seasons, a role that kicked my passion for supporting small businesses into high gear and started me down my path to The Loop.

I also happen to have a deep appreciation for tea and enjoy a mood-fitting cup every morning immediately following my wake-up cup of coffee. Sometimes you just need that extra kick of caffeine, or the nerve-calming effects of lavender, or the simple brightness of lemon, you know?

Today, the cup of choice was Tonberry - it's smooth, has a perfectly balanced level of fruitiness that makes me happy, and it's caffeinated - in honor of announcing our newest Maker Member (and former vendor at the farmers market), Tea Dude.

Now, as market manager, I tried not to pick favorites but if I did, Chris Charek (aka Tea Dude) would be one of them.

He offered something that was more unique, a type of vendor I often struggled to bring in and hang on to. That something was tea which, as previously mentioned, I personally love. And not inconsequentially, he vastly upped the coolness factor of the market for my two early-teen boys, making their forced volunteerism immensely easier on us all.

Plus, he's just a nice guy.

The Copley farmers market may be no more, but it's good to know I can still help Copley support the vendors we knew and loved! The Loop already has a few - Carl Harp Nursery, Cindy Havlik-Thompson of Thirty-One Gifts, and Jacobs Heritage Farm - and there's always room for more.

Yep. I can honestly say that welcoming Chris to The Loop makes me happier than my hot cup of Tonberry.

And that's saying something.

This week:

Saturday, March 6

• First Saturday Sale + Henna Tattoos from 9:00 - 4:00 at The Market Path

Next week:

Wednesday, March 11

• Copley Chamber Meeting: Kristen Birkbeck, Speaker from 12:00 - 1:00 via Zoom