Hershey History Center’s 25th Annual Preservation Gala: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle

Everyone knows the Three R’s: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. However, few know how these concepts apply to architecture and a fundamental concept in preservation – adaptive reuse. This year, the Hershey History Center's Preservation Gala focuses on the dynamic change to two downtown buildings that have lived numerous lives. These properties, and the respective owners, are going green by reducing the footprint for new building projects and recycling space once used for butchering and soapmaking, to reuse for many tasty treats and indulgent drinks. To celebrate, our event will feature, of all things, a Butcher, a Baker, a Cocktail Maker!

Saturday, November 5th - 6:00pm

Fresh Market Hershey (old Abattoir)

Yes, there is a butcher, a baker – or two – and a few more cocktail makers…

This evening will feature tastes and treats from numerous vendors that are a vital part of Hershey Fresh Market, against the backdrop of the newly adapted space with sounds from regional and local bands, helping us to bring it all back home.

Highlights for Gala guests include special artifact displays, food, beverage, and dessert stations, behind-the-scenes tours, a silent auction highlighted by one-of-a-kind items, and a live auction. The annual Preservation Awards will be presented during the event.

Purchase your tickets here.

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Sheena McDeavitt
Carnations and Confections Against Cancer

Fresh Market has collaborated with The Hershey Company and the Palmyra Greenhouse to show our support for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Join us as we host Carnations and Confections Thursday, October 27 from 5:30 p.m.- 7:30 p.m. Purchase a pink flower bouquet from Palmyra Greenhouse, bouquets will include carnations, mums, roses, lisianthus and more… all in shades of pink. $10 of each bouquet sold will go towards Susan G. Koman, More than Pink Walk. Palmyra Greenhouse will be parking Rosie the Red Truck in our parking lot for bouquets pickups and sales available on site. Click here to purchase your bouquet.

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Sheena McDeavitt
Indoor farmers market in Hershey to welcome shoppers with gyros, beer, Korean BBQ and more

Shoppers at a new indoor farmers market in Derry Township will find everything from kimchee and artisan chocolates to deli sandwiches, Greek gyros and bottles of wine.

Visitors will get their first taste of the Fresh Market at Hershey Towne Square when it opens Sept. 1 at the old Hershey Post Office building along West Chocolate Avenue. More than a dozen vendors will sell fresh and prepared foods.

“It gives the consumer a great choice in a small footprint. We thought it would work nicely in an old, historic building,” said Steve Dayton, spokesman for RVG Management & Development in Wormleysburg.

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Sheena McDeavitt
Fresh Market Hershey - Upper Level Soft Opening

Thank you so much for your outstanding response and excitement to the news of the soft opening of the Upper Level of Fresh Market Hershey. You may have been watching our project for the past year, and are curious about what you can expect on September 1st. The initial launch of our soft opening will be for the Upper Level which is mainly all-prepared food and beverage vendors, so come ready to eat, drink and celebrate with your family, friends and neighbors. This will also be your opportunity to see first hand the Abattoir restoration.

We will be having our grand opening for the entire Fresh Market shortly after which will include our Lower Level where you will find more of your quintessential farmers market vendors. Stay tuned for our grand-opening announcement as that's when you will want to bring your market baskets and be ready to fill them with your deli-meats, bakery items, produce, bulk nuts, dairy products and other incredible finds.

The soft opening on September 1st will be the launch of our Market operating hours which are Thursday, Friday and Saturday 8:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. Select vendors will offer additional hours on Wednesdays and Sundays and you will see those hours posted at each kiosk.
All of our vendors are locally owned small-businesses and they have worked tirelessly to prepare their stands and perfect their offerings for you. They have pushed through construction delays, supply-chain challenges, labor shortages, and much more to finally be able to open. We are so proud of each and every vendor and we can't thank you enough for coming out to cheer them on during our soft opening.

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Sheena McDeavitt
The Vegetable Hunter will open in Fresh Market at Hershey Towne Square this summer.

The Vegetable Hunter vegan brewery and cafe will open its third location at Fresh Market at Hershey Towne Square, a mixed-use development with over 40 food and drink vendorsat 121 Towne Square Dr. in Hershey, PA. The Vegetable Hunter will inhabit a 350 to 400 sq. ft. space in kiosk 5 in Suite 102 in the building’s food court when they open in July or August.

“We’ve been looking in Hershey for a long time. This is an awesome location. I think we’re really going to be really successful bringing our vegan food in the area where there’s nothing else like it,” the company’s founder Kristin Messner-Baker told What Now Philadelphia.

Messner-Baker says she will be scaling down her menu at this location, serving items that are easier to assemble in a food court-type atmosphere. The Vegetable Hunter will also offer craft beer and kombucha in cans and serve handcrafted cocktails. The café is trying to work a few bar seats into their design and will have additional seating for customers within Fresh Market’s food court seating area.

“Even if people just try one plant-based meal a week, it makes a huge difference in the world. My husband and I are vegan, and we do it for our health and to save the animals and the environment. Substituting for one plant-based meal per week can really make a positive change. This will allow us to offer vegan options in the Hershey area,” Kristin Messner-Baker said.

The Vegetable Hunter opened their first location in Harrisburg in 2014, followed by their Carlisle operation in July 2021. Messner-Baker says The Vegetable Hunter has drawn celebrities and musicians like Carrie Underwood and Kendrick Lamar who perform in the area and seek healthy and energetic food options. So, she expects the new location to be wildly popular since it is so close to Hersheypark and Hersheypark Stadium.

Learn more about The Vegetable Hunter at thevegetablehunter.com.

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Sheena McDeavitt
Fresh Market Update

Wow…to say the last two years have been a whirlwind is an understatement. From lockdowns, to shutdowns, to partial openings, to labor shortages, to rising prices, to supply chain issues….it has been overwhelming! But today, we would like to give you some positive news. I know there have been questions about "when and if" the Fresh Market is going to open. We have experienced many of the above issues and are still fighting every day to get key components to complete our building. But, we can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

There has been significant progress made on the two market floors and we are happy to say that vendors will soon be able to begin their stand buildout. With the holidays upon us, we have pushed this process to the end of December/early January as they are all busy providing wonderful products at their current locations. Some vendors are still completing their individual permitting approvals and we expect committed vendors to begin their work during the month of January. As such, vendors will begin opening in February with a grander, more broad opening, in the April-May timeframe. We still have a few more material hurdles to get over, but firmly believe these can be accomplished during this time.

We are extremely encouraged by vendor interest. We talk with folks every day that have beautiful, original products and are eager to participate. That is in addition to all of the committed vendors who have been riding the wave along with us for almost a year. We cannot wait to announce them!

Thank you for following along with us on our journey. Stay tuned and follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Check out our update video here: https://fb.watch/9PO9nVM5rh/

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Sheena McDeavitt
Hershey Town Square developers are adding a farmers market

The developers behind mixed-use retail and office space Hershey Towne Square plan to open a farmers market in the old post office building behind the development.

Wormleysburg-based RVG Management & Development Co. has started work on Graystone Fresh Market at the location, a food court and farmers market slated for opening this fall.

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Sheena McDeavitt