June 20, 2024
By Rachel Scofield

At 10 pm on Tuesday, June 11, an 18-year-old Pickerington woman allegedly confused “Reverse” with “Drive” and plowed her Chevrolet Cruze into a city-owned storage shed on the Farmer’s Market lot (89 N. Center Street).

The young woman was unhurt, but the shed and its contents were heavily damaged.

The impact tore off the doors and part of the front. The entire shed was shoved back about a foot. A portion of the back wall was broken and pushed out a foot as well.

The building is used by the Pickerington Village Association (PVA) which organizes most of the large events in the Olde Village including the Holiday Gathering, the Farmer’s Market, Oktoberfest, Chocolate Hop, Wizard Faire and many more. Therefore, the shed was full of equipment, signs and decorations.

“We were actually very lucky that most of the Farmers’ Market supplies were along the side of the building with the least damage and weren’t run over,” said PVA Board Member Peggy Portier. “Also, Kate had some of the items she uses to open the market in her car for convenience, or they would have been crushed.”

The PVA scrambled for the market to open two days later. 

“The hardest part was having to unscrew the boards we used to cover the gaping hole where the doors used to be every time we needed to get into the shed!” said Portier. “I quickly rounded up leftover boards and plywood scraps at my house and early Wednesday morning we were down there buttoning it up.  We used some of the damaged items to cover up the hole in the back wall.”

The city repaired the shed on June 18 and the PVA has been working to replace the damaged items. At press time, a dollar amount had not been assessed, however the PVA was fairly confident the cost would be covered by insurance.

“We appreciate that the city worked with the shed company to get the repairs done quickly,” Portier said. “Also, Dean Irish with Marathon Professional Towing helped us secure the damaged generators so there was no fire hazard. He found them under the car.”

For community members wishing to help, the PVA encourages them to continue coming to support the Pickerington Farmer’s Market on Thursdays from 4-7 pm through September. PVA also hosts special Shop Hops on the second Thursday of every month from 4-8 pm.