The Saturday Everyone Looks Forward to in Chappaqua
By Kathryn Nicolai
For the second consecutive year, downtown Chappaqua will be abuzz with activity every third Saturday of the month.
Starting this weekend and continuing through October, the third Saturday will see four separate events taking place downtown simultaneously: the Chappaqua Flea, Art Under the Bridge, Chappaqua’s weekly farmers market and the Take It or Leave It shed.
The Chappaqua Flea, a curated outdoor market, will appear at the train station from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the designated Saturdays. Founder and organizer Ilana Arazie called Chappaqua’s third Saturdays a “robust community event,” integrating the flea’s vendors with art and fresh produce and food from the farmers market.
The flea will feature a diverse collection of new and old vendors selected based on customer feedback from last year, Arazie’s first in Chappaqua. She said this year’s vendors will be selling home goods, antiques and mid-century modern furniture, vintage clothing from the 1970s and 1980s, beaded and stone jewelry, crafts for kids, vintage comics and posters, all-natural handmade soaps and lotions and collectibles from Asia and Africa.
In addition to the carefully selected vendors, the Chappaqua Flea has planned numerous themes for its monthly appearance. Father’s Day will be honored on June 18 with prizes and giveaways; summertime will be celebrated on July 16: Aug. 20 will be centered around pets and the slogan “Dog Days of Summer.” On Sept. 17, the market will have a back-to-school theme and on Oct. 15, the last flea of the season, it will be Fall Festival.
The Northern Westchester Artists Guild is also returning, where local fine artists, painters, printmakers, ceramicists, photographers, fiber artists, sculptors and jewelry designers will be featured in Art Under the Bridge. The exhibit will run from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and will also be located near the train station under colorful tents.
There will be about half a dozen local artists, including Peg Sackler, a member of the Northern Westchester Artists Guild, displaying their work on easels and grids. Sackler described the monthly Art Under the Bridge “by the community for the community,” an effort to bring art to the heart of downtown.
The Chappaqua Flea and Art Under the Bridge will take place alongside the Chappaqua’s Farmers Market, which operates outdoors every Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Next to the market in the train station’s parking lot, visitors can find the popular Take It or Leave It shed from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturdays. The shop accepts donations of gently used goods including appliances, furniture, equipment and tools to display for visitors to take free of charge.
The Take It or Leave It shed is run by a dedicated group of volunteers who promote recycling and reuse in an effort to a variety of economic and environmental benefits for all of New Castle residents.
Town Administrator Jill Shapiro said the New Castle Police Department, is working to allow pedestrian traffic to proceed safely and efficiently this year with a few minor changes. The Art Under the Bridge will be adjacent to the Chappaqua Flea under colorful tents in contrast to last year’s location under the Route 120 bridge.
In another effort to ease congestion, all pedestrians attending third Saturdays on Allen Place must exit Lower King Street to Washington Avenue.
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