In general, the members of the WI do not like to be thought of primarily as a ladies “baking” group, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t pull off a great bake sale when we put our minds to it!
The Original Navan Market was started by Amanda Watson (owner of Country Moments Spa) in 2016. It has grown over the years and now takes place monthly from April to November at the Fairgrounds in Navan. In May of this year, the Navan Women’s Institute decided to apply for a booth in order to raise some funds.
In the weeks leading up to Sunday, May 30, we each worked on items to sell at the Market. Cookies, squares, tarts, muffins, snack mixes, buns, pies, energy bars, candies on a skewer and other things were created in kitchens all over the area. For many of us it was exciting to have a reason to look at recipes and make an old recipe or try something new.
In addition to the members of our group, we were pleased to have other members of the Navan community contribute baking to us. A number of women who used to be part of the WI, or who have a connection to the group contributed items to the sale. This is a great example of the community spirit of our town.
The weather on the day of the Market was perfectly pleasant and sunny. Our booth was located near one of the entrances (right next to the beer booth). A number of us set up the items for sale and over the day many of our WI members came in shifts to sell things.
It was hard to know how many items to prepare for sale, as we had a lot of things! In fact we had so many items that we were able to offer a sale towards the end of the day. We stood out in the flow of customers with paper lunch bags and offered, “fill the bag for $10!!!” People enjoyed the challenge of putting as much into their bags as they could. It was a good way for us to sell the remaining items.
