Newark couple debuts Old-World Christmas market

About seven years after Greg and Dawn Shelton moved into Poplar Hall, an 18th-century home and farm near Newark, they began hosting a Christmas wreath-making dinner party in one of the barns on the 7-acre property. 

The old-fashioned, early December party, featuring some of the couple's modern, signature twists, soon became a much-anticipated holiday event among their family and friends.

The guest list eventually grew to 35 and the popularity of the large gatherings got Greg Shelton thinking: Why not throw an even bigger English-style Christmas party at the English-style home?

This Saturday, Dec. 2, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., he and his wife will be hosting a free, open-to-the-public European-style Christmas Market at Historic Poplar Hall that they hope will "take people back to the way Christmas was meant to be."

The inaugural market will feature about 30 vendors; craft beer, hard cider and wine makers; food by Wilmington chef/restaurateur Bryan Sikora; performances by the musical trio Hotsy Totsy; and demonstrations by a Delaware City blacksmith. It will be held in six buildings on the property at 3176 Denny Road in Newark.

Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.

The market was recently featured on Food & Wine magazine's website highlighting some of the best holiday shopping experiences in America. The couple expect anywhere from 300 to 500 people at the one-day-only event. The event has its own Facebook page, Christmas Market at Poplar Hall.

Shelton, who has worked as a marketing consultant and has been aided by his father-in-law, Jim Dougherty, said he has done his research to ensure the market will have an authentic, festive feeling. 

"The event is a true European-style Christmas market," he said. "It's almost like a carnival in Germany, Russia and England."

All vendors will be selling wares they've made themselves. Shelton has lined up candle and soap makers, a jewelry artisan, a leather worker, a ceramic maker, a doll clothing designer, a stained glass artist, a wood carver, cheese makers, honey and beekeepers, florists and more.

More:Holiday calendar: Parades, concerts and an abundance of Santa in Delaware

More:Delaware woman has recipes for the everyday family with her latest co-authored cookbook

Free parking will be available on the property that's near Lums Pond and just a short hop from Shelton's childhood home in Chesapeake City, Maryland.

Poplar Hall is a Pencader Hundred house dating back to 1780 that the Sheltons have been living in for the past 11 years.

The original brick Georgian structure was the home of James Boulden, a wealthy man from England. It remained in his family until 1918. The Sheltons are only the fourth family to reside there since the house was built. 

The home later received Greek Revival-style stone additions and updates. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988, and a Delaware State historical marker was dedicated there in 2014.

Shelton said he first heard about Poplar Hall from a family friend. At that time, he and his wife owned a farm in Chesapeake City, not far from where he grew up.

Shelton said he drove to Poplar Hall, then in "complete disrepair," and became "completely enamored of it. I had no idea the house existed. When I saw it, I obviously fell in love with it."

More:The most Delaware-y drink ever?

More:River rat with martini, painter, cyclist among new 'critters' at Brandywine ornament sale

He took his parents to see the site, and they both recognized its charms. Shelton entered into a lease-purchase with the property's then-owner Paul McConnell, a corporate real estate developer, and he and his father, who died in 2011, spent more than 1 year just making the site livable. 

"We had the vision of making it a place my wife and I would live in forever," Shelton said. "Everything fell into place."

Four years ago, the couple began hosting the wreath-making parties.

"My parents always were interested in handmade things. I have a nature feeling and passion for homemade things," he said.

And, this year, the party has grown. The daylong holiday market on Saturday will be spread among other buildings on the property including a 2 1⁄2-story crib barn, built about 1850, as well as a frame smokehouse, a dairy barn and an implement shed.

Shelton said he has asked Wilmington chef/restaurateur Bryan Sikora, a friend who owns La Fia Bistro and two other city eateries, to cook for visitors.

He said Sikora will be cooking handheld foods available for purchase such as beef and chicken skewers and possibly bratwursts on an Argentine-style barbecue grill. He'll also offer a Chesapeake-style seafood chowder and grilled crostatas.

"It will be the kind of food that people can walk around with and hold, so you eat and walk," Shelton said. 

In a nod to the heritage of Dawn Shelton, whose grandfather was Hugo Immediato, one of the original Three Little Bakers, the couple also invited Dawn's cousin Tony Immediato to bake a dessert for the event.

Tony Immediato, who recently closed his Middletown Italian bistro to focus on a thriving catering business, will be selling coconut macaroons made from a Three Little Bakers recipe. 

Harvest Ridge Winery, based in Marydel, is bringing a selection of wines, and Rebel Seed Cidery, a spin-off of Harvest Ridge, will provide some of its dry ciders. Fordham & Dominion Brewing Co. plans to sell handcrafted beer and sodas such as ginger ale, black cherry and root beer.

Other vendors include Trebs Thompson of Newark's Whimsical Farms selling fresh meats; Stacey and Sam Kennedy of Doe Run Farms in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, who will showcase a selection of locally-made cheeses; and Evan MacGuiness, owner of Leon's Gardens, which plans to sell fresh Christmas trees. 

Visitors can also see blacksmithing and iron work demonstrations by Kerry Rhoades of Forged Creations in Delaware City; and watch Monica Weiser of Chesapeake City create Ukrainian eggs.

Hotsy Totsy, a New Jersey-based trio styled after the Andrews Sisters, will perform at 2 p.m.

Shelton said he's hoping the market will become a Delaware holiday tradition.  

"My goal is that every year, on the first weekend in December, you can come to a historical manor house and feel what you would have felt in old England," Shelton said. "I'm really trying to take a modern approach on what they would have done on the property." 

Contact Patricia Talorico at (302) 324-2861 or ptalorico@delawareonline.com and on Twitter @pattytalorico