{"id":120512,"date":"2023-07-15T11:48:02","date_gmt":"2023-07-15T15:48:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=120512"},"modified":"2023-07-15T11:48:02","modified_gmt":"2023-07-15T15:48:02","slug":"racers-start-your-squashes-annual-zucchini-500-returns-to-eastons-west-ward-market-july-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=120512","title":{"rendered":"Racers, start your squashes! Annual Zucchini 500 returns to Easton\u2019s West Ward Market July 19"},"content":{"rendered":"

EASTON, Pa. — The Lehigh Valley\u2019s favorite and most fun vegetable-powered race \u2013 the Zucchini 500 \u2013 is returning to Easton\u2019s West Ward Market on Wednesday, July 19, 4 p.m. The free event — now in its 1t7th<\/sup>\u00a0year —\u00a0is open to both children and adults.<\/p>\n

The West Ward Market will provide everything needed \u2013 zucchini, wheels, axles, carving equipment and more — to turn the versatile veggie into a stylish, gravity-fueled racing machine ready to squash the competition on the fabled Zucchini 500 track. A Zuke 500 pit crew will be on hand to assist with car building. NASCAR\u2019s Peter Brohl will be on site to officiate the race.<\/p>\n

Car building and test drives will take place from 4 – 6 p.m. Racing will start with the children\u2019s division at 6 p.m. followed by the adult division. Children 16 and younger can compete in three categories: Sportscar, Midsize and Monster Truck. Adults can compete in the Adult Midsize heat following the children’s race. Trophies will be awarded to the fastest car in each category and there will be an additional prize for most creative car design.<\/p>\n

A Zucchini 500 photo station will be available for pictures of racers, friends and family in a zucchini car.<\/p>\n

In addition to being elongated and aerodynamically suitable for maximum racing speeds, zucchinis are loaded with many important vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Low in calories, fat and sugar, it has a high fiber content, plays an important role in digestion and may limit the likelihood of suffering from a variety of GI issues. While usually considered a vegetable, zucchini is technically a fruit. As a squash, it is native to Central America and Mexico, but it has been a part of many international cuisines for centuries.<\/p>\n

The West Ward Market is located on N. 12th Street in Easton, between Paxinosa Elementary School and Cottingham Stadium. The new market was launched in June 2022 to serve Easton\u2019s West Ward and surrounding neighborhoods with access to fresh produce, baked goods, prepared foods and more, in addition to providing a venue for connecting with neighbors and community organizations.<\/p>\n

It complements the existing Market District properties \u2014 Easton Farmers\u2019 Market, America\u2019s oldest, continuous open-air farmers\u2019 market; and Easton Public Market, a year-round indoor market and gathering space. All are operated by Greater Easton Development Partnership (GEDP).<\/p>\n

About Greater Easton Development Partnership<\/p>\n

GEDP is a volunteer-driven, nonprofit organization focused on Easton\u2019s economic well-being, historical integrity, vibrant culture and hospitality. It manages more than two dozen programs and events that improve Easton’s quality of life including Easton Farmers\u2019 Market, Easton Main Street Initiative, Easton Public Market, PA Bacon Fest, West Ward Community Initiative, Easton Ambassadors, Easton Winter Village, Heritage Day, Easton Garden Works and more. More:\u00a0eastonpartnership.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Information provided to TVL by:
\nMichael Drabenstott (for GEDP)
\nDrabenstott Communications Group<\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EASTON, Pa. — The Lehigh Valley\u2019s favorite and most fun vegetable-powered race \u2013 the Zucchini 500 \u2013 is returning to Easton\u2019s West Ward Market on Wednesday, July 19, 4 p.m. … Continue reading Racers, start your squashes! Annual Zucchini 500 returns to Easton\u2019s West Ward Market July 19<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":120513,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5718,69,482],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-120512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-easton","category-in-the-valley","category-press-release-2"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Zuke5001.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120512"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=120512"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120512\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/120513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=120512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=120512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=120512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}