To the editor:
CHESTERHILL, Ohio –– Twenty years ago, on a hill where the watersheds of Morgan County, Ohio, collide, Jean and Marvin Konkle founded the Chesterhill Produce Auction (CPA). They, along with a multitude of community partners, established this rural food hub –– connecting people lacking access to fresh, local produce with the farmers able to provide it in abundance. An enterprise that started as a tent on a hill in 2005 has now increased its yearly revenue to half a million dollars in sales, a milestone measuring its contribution to the resiliency of this rural Appalachian community and its neighbors.
This year, the CPA is celebrating 20 years of business by revisiting the stories of the founding members still with us today, as well as welcoming in the growth to come. The CPA is now a social enterprise of Rural Action, a community development non-profit organization based in Athens, Ohio that was instrumental in the development of the CPA beginning in 2004 before being offered the chance to purchase it in 2010. Rural Action’s mission is to build a more just economy by developing the region’s assets in environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable ways.
We invite you to join us at our Opening Day auction at 3 p.m. on Monday, April 28, for a community gathering, including special guests, to celebrate 20 years of business. We welcome you to bring your favorite pie or dish to share in the potluck and view photos from the past on display. The produce auction will follow around 4 PM, beginning with a flower basket benefit auction to raise funds for Rural Action’s Farm to School programming, which educates local youth about the importance of supporting local food, and the American Heart Association.
See you there,
Chesterhill Produce Auction
