{"id":7741,"date":"2025-05-08T07:08:27","date_gmt":"2025-05-08T07:08:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/princetonillinois.com\/?p=7741"},"modified":"2025-05-08T07:08:27","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T07:08:27","slug":"small-memories-winery-and-meadery-celebrates-opening-in-ottawa-shaw-local","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/princetonillinois.com\/?p=7741","title":{"rendered":"Small Memories Winery and Meadery celebrates opening in Ottawa – Shaw Local"},"content":{"rendered":"


Stephanie Small cuts the ribbon on Friday May 2, 2025, alongside family members and representatives from the Ottawa Area Chamber of Commerce and its ambassadors during the official opening of Small Memories Meadery and Winery. <\/span>(Bill Freskos)
Small Memories Meadery and Winery officially joined the local business community Friday afternoon with a ribbon-cutting ceremony hosted by the Ottawa<\/a> Chamber of Commerce.
Located at 1409 E. Route 6, the new business is the creation of the Small family, who turned a farm shed in their backyard into a quaint space for tasting and producing both traditional wines and meads.
Uniquely, Small Memories uses honey as the base ingredient in its mead, creating an alternative to traditional grape wines.
Rick and Stephanie Small shared that their family has been making wine for many years and saw an opportunity to repurpose the unused shed into something more meaningful.
\u201cWe\u2019ve been making wine in our basement for nearly two decades,\u201d Stephanie Small said. \u201cTurning that passion into something we can share with the public is a dream come true.\u201d
Rick and Stephanie Small credit their family\u2019s help as key to getting the business off the ground.
\u201cWe really couldn\u2019t do it without our family,\u201d Stephanie Small said.
Although they\u2019ve already been quietly open for soft tastings, the official grand opening is set for Saturday, May 4, coinciding with the Kentucky Derby.
The celebration will run from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., featuring a food truck from Dig Doug\u2019s BBQ, live music from 5 to 7 p.m. and a live broadcast of the derby.
Small Memories will operate with weekend-focused hours.
The business will be open from 5 to 8 p.m. Fridays, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturdays, and noon to 4 p.m. Sundays, and is closed Monday through Thursday.
For more information on events or products, visit Small Memories\u2019 website<\/a> or Facebook page<\/a>.
Ottawa Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Jay McCracken presents a plaque Friday, May 2, 2025, to the Small family on behalf of the chamber, just before the ribbon-cutting ceremony at Small Memories Meadery and Winery. <\/span>(Bill Freskos)
Copyright \u00a9 2023 Shaw Local News Network
Copyright \u00a9 2023 Shaw Local News Network<\/p>\n

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Stephanie Small cuts the ribbon on Friday May 2, 2025, alongside family members and representatives from the Ottawa Area Chamber of Commerce and its ambassadors during the official opening of Small Memories Meadery and Winery. (Bill Freskos)Small Memories Meadery and Winery officially joined the local business community Friday afternoon with a ribbon-cutting ceremony hosted by the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce.Located<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7741","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t