By Sherry Cook Stanforth

Inside time’s quick beat, the question of where to go and what to do in on a free Saturday morning begs careful reflection—and now, with the sun sinking low in the sky, here I am, still reflecting about the glorious day spent at the Covington Farmer’s Market with creative friends, hosting our first-ever non-profit booth amid artisan bakers, local urban and rural growers, coffee roasters, beekeepers, pastry artists, and more.  

As founder/director of the Urban Appalachian Community Coalition’s Place Keepers artist collective, I’m passionate about sharing our organization’s value of celebrating “where people come from” through creative, expressive community collaborations. The UACC mission emerged over four decades ago to support the practical, social, and cultural needs held by Appalachians who left the mountains to settle in Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky urban neighborhoods. All too often, their families encountered struggle and rejection. Our organization provided much-needed advocacy and resources for these diverse new residents, emphasizing respect and appreciation for community heritage traditions that included storytelling, music, creative writing, foodways, dance, folk arts, and intergenerational celebrations.  

Appalachian families continue to contribute richly to our shared Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky home place, right alongside many other migrating groups. Today, UACC works with Appalachian spirit, gathering people from their unique corners to learn more about each other’s home and cultural traditions. In an era of virtual screens, media chaos, and narrow geographies, may people across generations be woven together through memorable experiences that feature personal storytelling, creative expressive arts, relaxed conversation, and delicious food! 

Historically, UACC’s work has mainly focused on settlement neighborhoods on the Cincinnati side of the river. Now, we are very grateful to the tens and thousands of ArtsWave donors making it possible for us to launch our “Woven Branches” partnership programs with Northern Kentucky people inside of Northern Kentucky places.  We love the Cov! The minute our creative team (Possum Strous, Fran Collins, Cheryl Freeman, and me) pulled into the Covington Farmer’s Market, we felt right at home. A seasoned vendor immediately offered to help me unload the car. Market manager extraordinaire Allison Wendling and her one-of-a-kind dog Rory came up to greet all of us and point the way to steaming cups of coffee. Then we got to work creating an interactive scene that would stir the curiosity of market-goers to learn more about Urban Appalachian culture and also share stories about their own home foods and heritage traditions.  

Our table shimmered with Appalachian style – we placed down a double wedding ring lap quilt made by a West Virginia elder who grew up in a coal camp, migrating here many years ago as a single mom with three daughters.  Then, out came my grandma’s cast iron skillet, two dulcimers (one made from a bottle neck gourd!), a limberjack dancing doll, freshly plucked pawpaws, fruit-shaped lollipops, free old time music CDs, and a darling little “pattypan” squash. Fran Collins and Possum Strous distributed homestyle recipes for dilly beans (their own special pickling!) and a sweet potato-apple skillet dish, also encouraging folks to create their own home recipe postcards. Traditional Appalachian produce bloomed to life through fun fact flash cards with colorful images. Seriously, who would think that the cushaw squash (friend of so many mountain skillets and pie pans) was domesticated 9000 years ago in Meso-America?  And bean varieties sparked plenty of questions and conversations, too.  

Then up walked Jason—a self-proclaimed drummer-foodie with “half-Appalachian and half-Mexican” heritage, and in an instant, we all got excited about the blessing of fusion cooking.  When Anna and her sister stopped by, the talk turned toward childhood memories of mountain-style drop biscuits and early spring poke, stir fried in butter.  We held some friendly banter about corn bread—sweet or regular?—and reminisced fondly about the cast iron skillet oven method used by our grannies to produce the crispiest cornbread to ever find a bowl of soup beans.  We also reflected about “making do,” a powerful strength among Appalachian folks and other folks determined to wisely grace their dinner tables with the last bit of leftovers and home-grown foods. 

Visual artist Cheryl Freeman spent the morning with her fingers flying across the page, drawing people across generations as their chosen fruit or vegetable. She gave me my own little take-away portrait, where I appeared as a yellow crookneck squash.  My North Georgian great-grandma Jesse Wade used to fry it up for me, cornmeal battered, in her trusty cast iron skillet.  Our booth quickly filled with laughter as Cheryl handed other folks her artistic translations – Paul became a potato in celebration of his Irish heritage.  Dani from Berea (who inspires young entrepreneurs and also manages a metal band!) sprang into blackberry cane, while a Covington resident and her dog Oliver sprouted into a corn queen and a corn-on-the-cob canine.  Another person and her pup bloomed into a strawberry and banana combo. Besties enjoying a market adventure together appeared together on the page as cucumbers and sugar snap peas.  When one visitor morphed into a colorful tomato vine, the talk turned to homemade sauces, soups, and how to best freeze surplus crops.  All day, we found ourselves pondering our personal and heritage relationships with veggies and fruits.

Along with holding comfort-food convos, I also talked with people about the Appalachian dulcimer, and indigenous Appalachian creation and Kentucky’s state instrument.   The strumming drew in Elizabeth, who tried out “Gourdie” for the first part of the morning, before going home to fetch her own dulcimer in order to hang out with us the rest of the day, strumming and conversing about her Kentucky heritage!  When two sisters from Montreal walked up asking questions, I felt inspired to sing a ballad snippet of “Come All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies.” I also held a moving conversation with artist Morgan about rivers and land stewardship, sharing a verse or two of Jean Ritchie’s “Black Waters” ballad. 

Our UACC Place Keepers team left the Covington Farmer’s Market feeling lifted up by Covington’s great people and excited to come back for our next booth happening on October 31. To ring in the fall, we may even include an old-time music jam session.  My only true regret of the day—why oh why didn’t I slip away when I had the chance, in order to buy that beautiful magical brown loaf of sourdough bread displayed just a few booths away?  By late morning, I glanced up to see, to my great sorrow, that ALL THE BREAD WAS GONE.  Live and learn. Beautifully crafted, home-grown food moves quickly in this city!