Community building through crafts and consommé at Finnriver

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The spirit of giving is in the air.

And in the soup, too.

Finnriver Farm & Cidery in Chimacum is hosting the third annual “Community Bowls & Soup Share” alongside their annual Harvest Craft Fair on the weekend of Nov. 26-27.

Free soup prepared by the Castle restaurant and sponsored by the nonprofit Roots of Resilience Project will be available — first-come, first-served — with the optional add-on of bread sticks locally baked by Crusty Crumb starting at noon Saturday, while supplies last.

“I’ve got 200 servings of soup,” said Finnriver co-owner Crystie Kisler.

“It’s always worked out, but at some point we will run out of soup,” she added.

The soup sponsors, Roots of Resilience Project, have as their mission to grow more vibrant and equitable rural communities through fellowships, networking, and advocacy.

“We are seeking to do an event grounded in a sense of gratitude and community service, and in the past we’ve really appreciated the spirit of generosity that seems to be in the air,” Kisler said.

Community members will also have an opportunity to take home a beautiful, locally-made ceramic bowl with a $30 donation to Port Townsend Sunrise Rotary Club to support Olympic Neighbors, the Goosefoot Food access project, the Longhouse for the People project and a S’Klallam community project.

The bowls are all handcrafted by local potters at Laughin’Gnome Pottery, Center Valley Pottery, Millbrook Clayworks, and Jaiden Dokken Art.

The potters are donating time and effort to produce these bowls and the Port Townsend Sunrise Rotary is staffing the Community Bowls tables with volunteers, located on the Cider Garden patio.

“They’re helping to organize the event, they’re staffing it with a heap of volunteers, and they’re helping us plan it,” Kisler said of the Rotary’s efforts.

If bowls and soup sell out on Saturday, Sunrise Rotary will still be on site on Sunday to continue accepting donations.

Event organizers note that Saturday, Nov. 26 has also become known as “Small Business Saturday” and marks a chance to support local businesses by attending the annual Finnriver Harvest Craft Fair.

Visitors can find unique holiday gifts made by local artisans and makers including pottery, textile artists, jewelry, print art, local teas, handmade lamps, and herbal products and more.

The Finnriver Haybarn will be filled with 11 creative local crafters, artists and makers — set up to showcase and sell their goods from noon to 5:30 p.m.

The Haybarn is an unheated space so organizers recommend coming bundled up.

Throughout the weekend, people are also invited to take a self-guided Gratitude Walk that leads folks on a trail of thoughtful and inspiring quotations through the Finnriver Orchard.

“In the pandemic I was seeing different opportunities for people to communicate through these narrated walks, so this is just a little narrated walk around the property with different invocations,” Kisler said. “It all references the things that sustain us and it’s got some indigenous history, it’s got some acknowledgements of plants and the other elements that we feel gratitude for when we think of the harvest.”

The Finnriver taproom will be open throughout the weekend for enjoying hard cider and hot drinks as well as serving food from their kitchen and hosting local food vendors.

Finnriver will also feature live music by Jonathon Doyle from
5 to 7 p.m. Saturday. The live music continues from 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday with singer/songwriter Carl Tosten playing acoustic-fingerstyle guitar. A $5 cover for adults is asked during the live music hours.

For more information, contact Finnriver Farm & Cidery at info@finnriver.com or 360-339-8478.