Baugh’s Market and Event Center in Rusk gaining momentum after first year in business

Published 5:45 am Thursday, January 6, 2022

RUSK — Baugh’s Market and Event Center in Rusk opened its doors in January last year and in that time, owner Ruth Baugh said the business has grown and expanded in ways she never imagined.

Ruth and her husband Jackson were handed keys to a tiny chapel near their property by the church’s “keepers” with the expectation she would use it to do good in the community.

Baugh, who says she has traced the chapel back at least 100 years, said the move caught her off guard and was a bit overwhelming.

“In what world does that happen — that you are just handed the keys to a church,” she said.

A personal chef who lost her job in 2020 due to COVID-19, Baugh got to work planning ways to make her passion for ‘all things homemade’ and her desire to help people a reality.

That planning came to fruition in January 2021 with the opening of Baugh’s Market and Event Center.

Baugh started with a farmer’s market, known as Chapel Market Days. Vendors gather on the chapel grounds the last Saturday of each month. Baugh said the idea for the market came from her love of food.

“It really came down to ‘I love food’,” she said. “I love food, I love eating. When I worked as a personal cook, my joy was bringing health and beauty into meals. I served all my food with the knowledge that healthy eating doesn’t have to be hard.”

“I also wanted a place for other home cooks to be able to sell goods produced at home. So many have changed career paths due to the changes these past few years and I wanted to support that. I’ve met some great people with the same story as myself,” Baugh said.

With that in mind, Baugh added classes to the business.

“I want to share with others this knowledge of sustainability and this idea that they can create food from home to serve their family,” she said.

Classes cover topics like how to make yogurt, soap, jelly or cheese along with beginning gardening and seed-saving.

As the months went on and the farmer’s market continued to grow, Baugh and her husband began renovating the chapel in hopes of opening it as a wedding venue in the near future.

“The wedding venue came last. The chapel is over 100 years old and needed some TLC. As we got it ready for market day, I had the idea we could also use it for weddings,” Baugh said. “It’s still a work in progress for sure, but we’re getting there. This spring I’m planning on hosting a wedding expo for East Texas.”

Baugh’s first wedding in the chapel is booked for April.

“My first year in business was, of course, exciting. I was excited to try something new, to be a part of the community and I’m happy to still be here,” she said. “I wasn’t sure if we would make it to our first year, but each month is busier than the last.”

Baugh said she felt grateful her new business made it through 2021 with little impact from COVID-19.

“I think because we hold Chapel Market Days outdoors, our classes are small and the wedding venue intimate, we’ve been able to overcome most of the Covid struggles,” Baugh said.

However, the venture has not been without challenges.

“The biggest struggle has been refurbishing the chapel, for sure,” she said. “The building holds memories for the community, and I wanted to honor that by preserving the aesthetics of the little chapel, yet at the same time updating it.”

Baugh said there are big things coming this year for the business.

“The end of this year, we hope to offer mobile meat processing while still continuing the farmer’s market, homesteading classes and booking weddings at the venue,” she said. “We hope to expand the market vendors to offer more at Chapel Market Days, and we’ll be continuing our classes and adding more to our list.”

“This year we’ll also be adding to the wedding venue,” she said. “We’re currently finishing a beautiful bride’s dressing room and next will be the groom’s room.”

She said the couple hope to eventually open a storefront in Rusk that would sell locally raised meat and offer meat processing while also offering local wines, vegetables and bread. In February, the business is partnering with Small Town Books to offer a wine-making class.

The first farmer’s market of the year is set for Jan. 29.

For more information, call (928) 527-1309 or visit the business Facebook page.