Hancock's Tori Market wraps up a successful year

About a dozen booth operators were at today’s Tori Market on Hancock’s Quincy Green. It was the last day of the year for the weekly event.

John Ritola, 84, has been attending the market for “many, many years” and sells vegetables and flowers from his garden in Atlantic Mine.

Pennie Makela (center) operates Pennie’s Home Bakery with her husband Paul (back) and daughter Haley (right). Pennie said she’s been baking her whole life and has taken orders via Facebook since around 2012, but the booth was something that developed during the COVID-19 pandemic. She said she has been selling out at the market most weeks.

Shawn Brady was at the Tori Market representing Three Sisters Farm & Forest. Here he’s holding a set of their popular beeswax wraps, which are cotton cloths coated with a mixture of beeswax, pine resin, and jojoba oil that can be used in place of plastic wrap. They’re reusable and biodegradable. They also make candles out of locally sourced beeswax. Brady said they’ve had a hard time keeping stock in their booth between Hancock’s market and the other markets they attend.

Michele Southerland stands in front of her nearly empty table. Barely an hour into Thursday’s market her bagel stock was already low, which she said happened pretty often. She also sells handmade crafts as part of Copper Country Creations.