Burton’s Chamber of Commerce hosted its monthly Saturdays in the Country vendor event, held outside the historic Burton Log Cabin on June 29.
With around 25 vendors showing up despite the rain, visitors were able to check out everything from Amish produce, handmade pottery, and even political signs for the next election.
While Saturdays in the Country are held monthly outside Burton’s Log Cabin, 14590 E. Park St., this month’s event was themed with a higher age range in mind. Several wineries local to the area were on site selling samples to eager morning visitors.
MJ Cronin of Salvage Winery in Mantua, one of the vendors, said she just opened her winery in October 2023. She used to be the winemaker for North Creek Winery. When the business was sold, she decided to take up the craft herself in her newly renovated garage.
“It’s been really good,” Cronin said in between customers. “We are starting off slow with a small tasting room, a lot of outdoor space and a new patio. My husband is a landscape designer, so he has a lot of gardens, and we have a couple ponds on the property, so it’s fun. You can come in and do tastings, bring your food and snacks in if you want.
“I Import all my produce,” Cronin added. “Most of it is from the West Coast, my dry whites I do from Washington State, and dry reds from California, and I have two sweet wines that I do from local grapes.”
She said she asked her friend David Randall of Chagrin Falls, to paint watercolor paintings that resemble patinated metal work to incorporate her history in salvage. She said growing up in her family’s scrap yard led to some interesting moments, including building her first car from scratch at 14 years old.
She said the scrap yard was passed down three generations, but ultimately ended up closing in 2016. She said her winery is a spiritual continuation of her life from salvage to Syrah, her gold award-winning wine.
“Where my winery is, my parents live next-door, and we had a multi-generational salvage yard business,” Cronin said. “I had my friend (Randall) do paintings that were kind of patinated metals, to pay homage to my salvage background.
“My husband added them digitally into this label art, and then I added some shine because I like sparkly things,” Cronin continued with a laugh.
“This is my third festival this summer so far, and I have four more,” Cronin said. “But it definitely brings my name out there, as a lot of people don’t know that there is a winery in Mantua.”
Sue Wayman, president of Burton Chamber of Commerce, said that even though the rain came, people still made their way out to show their support for the vendors. She said that she had 47 vendors planned for the day, but due to the rain, over half did not show up.
“Just for the community,” Wayman said on why she organizes these types of events. “Just to get people to come into Burton, go to the area restaurants.”
She said the monthly event started in 2010, and she kept it going until 2015. She said that she needed to take a break and that other people continued the tradition, but they ended up not being able to continue Saturdays in the Country every month, so she brought it back herself.
“Last month was the first one and it threatened rain, but we had 40 some vendors last month,” Wayman said. “Today, because the rain is so bad, the numbers are down, but I just say, ‘rain or shine.’
“The wine tasting is part of this month, and next month I have a kids day, there will be inflatables and other things for kids to do. Not every month is themed this year but those two are, and we always have the vendors, every last Saturday.”
More information on the next Saturday’s in the Country can be found at www.burtonchamberofcommerce.org.