As we celebrate 30 years of Tamarack Marketplace, we asked our community to share some of their favorite memories. From weddings and family traditions to groundbreaking ceremonies and artistic inspiration, your stories remind us just how special this place truly is.
Holly Bess Kincaid
“Tamarack Marketplace has always been a point of pride for my hometown and a place I proudly share with visitors. Whenever friends or family come to West Virginia, Tamarack Marketplace is one of my first stops because it showcases the incredible creativity, craftsmanship, and talent found across our state.
Over the years, I’ve celebrated special moments there with family, enjoyed wonderful meals, discovered beautiful handmade treasures, and found inspiration in the work of West Virginia artisans. As an artist and educator, I am continually amazed by the passion, skill, and dedication that makers pour into their craft.”
Tana McCraw
“My daughter and I have visited Tamarack Marketplace many times since it opened. The attached photos show my daughter, Mary Roy, attending when she was just two years old and again more recently with her artwork exhibited inside the Fine Arts Gallery. We dearly love Tamarack Marketplace!”
Ken Lilly
“I had the privilege of attending the groundbreaking ceremony with the Beckley-Raleigh County Chamber of Commerce when Governor Gaston Caperton dedicated Tamarack Marketplace. I remember Governor Caperton holding up a jar of ‘ramp jelly’ and saying visitors from Cleveland, Ohio, would stop and buy it.
You could tell it was going to be a spectacular attraction. I was also present when First Lady Rachael Worby dedicated the addition of the banquet hall that could host receptions and Chamber dinners.
Although I could mention several memories beyond the dedication, the best part of Tamarack Marketplace to me is this: my wife and I were married on June 20, 1987, nine years before Tamarack Marketplace began celebrating its own beginnings. Today is our 39th anniversary. I wish Tamarack had been built nine years earlier because it would have been a wonderful place to have our wedding reception! Happy Birthday, Tamarack Marketplace. We are glad you are in our backyard. I have told that story from Missouri to Minnesota to Utah in my travels for work.”
Laura Wright Dickens
“Tamarack Marketplace is simply a taste of home. I have enjoyed introducing Tamarack to my grandchildren throughout the years, sharing the art gallery, making our own glass products, watching Karen Vuranch perform, and enjoying the crafts of Appalachian artisans.
The food is delicious. I love the Summer and Fall Festivals and all of the music. What more could a person want under one roof? So much culture. Let me add that the employees have that Southern love for their customers.”
Kayla Lovejoy
“As a native of Southern West Virginia, Tamarack Marketplace has been a visual fixture for most of my life. As we would return home from trips to Charleston or Morgantown, the ‘weird, pie-shaped building’ was always the signal that we were getting closer to home.
Little did I know that strange, spiked building would become far more than a waypoint for me. In high school, I had several opportunities to perform on stage there as part of the West Virginia Thespian Festival. My graduating class at Wyoming East High School was the first to hold prom at Tamarack Marketplace.
Perhaps those events led to an even bigger life event there: my wedding to my husband, who was also my prom date all those years ago. Having
the opportunity to hold our wedding in a place that is so uniquely West Virginia could not have been a greater experience.
These days, we often visit for lunch or, better yet, all-day brunch on Sundays, which is highly anticipated and appreciated by my six-year-old. I look forward to making more memories at Tamarack Marketplace for many years to come.”