Autumn Evening event welcomes shoppers to downtown Sumner

More than 20 merchants in historic downtown Sumner along Main Street and Kincaid Avenue will tantalize customers with special store promotions and giveaways from 3 to 7 p.m. Saturday (Oct. 3) as part of the annual Autumn Evening event.

The merchant-organized event promotes downtown businesses and gets people into the downtown shopping, said Kevin Caviezel, the new executive director of the Sumner Downtown Association.

Suzanne Kipfer, owner of Simple Tidings and Kitchen at 1115 Main Street, said Autumn Evening provides a fun way for merchants to treat customers.

“A lot of stores will have refreshments like cider,” Kipfer said. “We will demo a lot of food items that evening. At Simple Tidings we will do hourly giveaways and some of our vendors come and have special buy items and treats to give away.”

One vendor Kipfer is excited to host is Matt Ellison of Bonney Lake. Ellison’s Gurgling Pot product, a ceramic water pitcher shaped like a fish that gurgles like a fish when water is poured, has been a top seller at Kipfer’s store.

Ellison will be at Simple Tidings from 3 to 7 p.m. personalizing his Gurgle Pot for customers and demonstrating how it works. Kipfer said it’s a novelty item that brings a lot of fun to the dinner table.

Another store owner excited for the evening is Evelyn Nicholas, owner of A Good Book Café, at 1014 Main Street.

Nicholas will host author and musician Ken Scholes from 4 to 7 p.m. Scholes will perform music and also sign his new short story collection, “Blue Yonders, Grateful Pies and Other Fanciful Feasts.”

“He is a musician who frequently performs at coffee shops and bars and other small venues,” Nicholas said. “He will hopefully have the weather (on his side) to play for a bit out front at 4 p.m. on Saturday.”

Many merchants will also have on display outside their shop their very own scarecrow creation. Each year merchants put together a scarecrow to hang or sit outside their shop as part of the annual scarecrow contest. Customers have the opportunity to vote on their favorite scarecrow.

Caviezel said merchants of the the top two winning scarecrows each receive a prize. Prizes this year are a $50 gift card to Sorci’s Italian Café donated from Sorci’s and a Keurig donated from Keurig Green Mountain.

“Act 1 Theatre will be here and people dressed as scarecrows will dance and pose along the sidewalks for photo-ops,” Caviezel said.

Kipfer has been in business in Sumner for 31 years. Autumn Evening has been going strong for more than 10 years, she said.

“I enjoy being in the community,” Kipfer said. “I have made a lot of friends. I’ve been able to serve the customers and there is nothing better.”

Nicholas said Autumn Evening is her favorite of all the events that merchants host in historic downtown Sumner.

“Autumn Evening is a pleasant shopping evening in a quaint downtown,” she said. “People come with a partner or friends and enjoy a low-key evening of strolling through the shops. I especially love how much people really enjoy having a few hours to slow down, not have any agenda, and enjoy our small town.”

This story was originally published September 30, 2015 at 11:17 AM with the headline "Autumn Evening event welcomes shoppers to downtown Sumner."