From May through October, the Thursday vendors at 11766 Old Franklin Turnpike stood in for something Union Hall doesn't have. That's a grocery store close to home. The Southlake Community Market's last day of 2026 is today, October 29, from 9 a.m. to noon, across Route 40 from the Whistle Stop. Next Thursday the lot goes back to being a lot. The nearest grocery store is still about 20 minutes away.
Most of the food stays within a short drive over the winter. The sauces and soups sit on the shelves of a few small stores in Penhook, Glade Hill, Westlake, and Moneta. The sourdough and baked goods arrive by message and pickup. And when you want a whole market, it's a Saturday drive to Rocky Mount. Once you know which product follows which route, a Union Hall winter week still has most of what the Thursday market sold.
A Market Built to Fill a Grocery Gap
As smithmountainlake.com reported, the idea came out of a community planning meeting led by Franklin County's Union Hall Supervisor Dan Quinn. He asked residents what the area needed most, and their answer was a farmers market. The same article describes Union Hall and Penhook as having limited retail grocery options and calls them a rural food desert. Quinn told the publication:
"We needed this market for the community."
Union Hall residents Renee Beerman, Lori Dupier, Andrea Santmyer, and Shirley Holland organize the market. The 2026 Franklin County Food Directory lists the season as every Thursday, 9 a.m. to noon, May through October. Since the market exists to fill a grocery gap, the useful winter question is where each vendor's products go once the Thursdays stop.
The Shelf Route Runs Through Penhook and Glade Hill
Products in jars and bottles have the easiest winter, because they already sit on store shelves around the south side of the lake.
Billy Howland's Billy's SLAPP'N Sauce makes barbecue sauces and rubs. Besides Southlake, the food directory lists these outlets:
- Penhook Minute Market
- Sago's Convenience Store
- Corner Hideaway in Glade Hill
- Capps Home Building Center in Moneta
Jennifer Smith's Southern Love & Grace Creations makes scratch soups, stews, chili, beans, barbecue sauce, and pies. The directory names Mama Ann's Gifts and Goodies in Westlake, Corner Hideaway & Lucky Finds in Glade Hill, and the Bedford Farmers' Market as places to find them.
Corner Hideaway in Glade Hill shows up on both lists. One stop there could put a jar of Billy's sauce and a Southern Love & Grace item in the same bag. That's two Southlake tables covered without a market running. These are directory listings, so stock at any store can change with the season. A quick call before you drive out is worth it.
The Whistle Stop is the familiar landmark across the road from the market. It's a convenience store at 11729 Old Franklin Turnpike with a food counter that serves Hunt Brothers pizza. It's handy for a quick bite on the way to any of the stops above.
The Message Route Covers Bread and Baked Goods
Fresh bread doesn't keep long on a convenience-store shelf, so the bakers handle winter through preorders.
Smith Mountain Sourdough, started by Courtney Hayler, makes classic and inclusion sourdough and takes preorders year-round through Instagram or email, according to the food directory. Kayla Bowman sells breads, cookies, cakes, and muffins at Southlake on Thursdays and also offers local pickup orders year-round. Southern Love & Grace takes preorders too, through Facebook or from Jennifer Smith's home, so the soups and pies arrive by order as well as on shelves.
Jennifer Nix's Magnolia Cove Farm brought goat-milk soaps, lotions, whipped tallow, and other bath-and-body goods to Southlake. The farm's online store has an active checkout and ships. For anyone already planning holiday gifts, it's the simplest Southlake table to keep shopping all winter.
Some vendors travel farther. Dawn Giles's Baking A Comeback comes from Dry Fork in Pittsylvania County with scratch-made cakes, cupcakes, cookies, and celebration treats. The directory also lists the Chatham Farm Market and Danville Farmers' Market among its stops and points customers to its Facebook page for other events. Southern Bloom, Sherri Hott's plant, flower, vegetable, and canned-goods business, lists on-site hours only from spring through October. Their pages are the place to check over the next few months.
When You Want a Whole Market, Drive to Rocky Mount
Shelves and preorders take care of particular products. When you want the full experience of walking past tables of produce, meat, eggs, and baked goods, the closest regular option for November and December is in downtown Rocky Mount.
According to the Town of Rocky Mount's farmers market handbook, the market at Citizen Square, 435 Franklin Street, runs from April 1 through December 31. Franklin County's tourism calendar describes vendors selling produce, meat, eggs, baked goods, preserves, jams, and jellies, along with holiday trees, wreaths, and greenery.
The other markets near the lake are closing for the year too. The Ferrum Farm & Craft Market's 2026 Friday season ended in October. Lakeside Local at Halesford Center meets every third Saturday through November, as the Smith Mountain Eagle reported, so its last 2026 market falls on November 21.
Here's how the rest of 2026 lines up for anyone driving from Union Hall:
| Date | Market or event | Where | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat., Nov. 7 | Rocky Mount Farmers Market | 435 Franklin Street, Rocky Mount | 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. |
| Sat., Nov. 7 | SML Fall Chili & Craft Festival | Bridgewater Plaza, 16430 Booker T. Washington Highway, Moneta | 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. |
| Sat., Nov. 14 | Rocky Mount Farmers Market | 435 Franklin Street | 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. |
| Sat., Nov. 21 | Rocky Mount Farmers Market | 435 Franklin Street | 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. |
| Sat., Nov. 21 | Lakeside Local, final 2026 market | Halesford Center, 16483 Moneta Road, Moneta | 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. |
| Sat., Nov. 28 | Rocky Mount Farmers Market | 435 Franklin Street | 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. |
| Sat., Nov. 28 | Christmas craft vendors at Santa Around Bridgewater Plaza | Mango's patio, Bridgewater Plaza | 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. |
| Sat., Dec. 5 | Rocky Mount Farmers Market, during Come Home to a Franklin County Christmas | 435 Franklin Street | 9 a.m. to noon or 1 p.m. |
| Sat., Dec. 12 | Rocky Mount Farmers Market | 435 Franklin Street | 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. |
| Sat., Dec. 19 | Rocky Mount Farmers Market | 435 Franklin Street | 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. |
December 5 is the date to watch. The town's handbook says the market closes an hour early, at noon, for Come Home to a Franklin County Christmas. The county tourism calendar still shows 1 p.m. Getting there before noon covers either schedule. The Christmas event downtown adds its own food and craft vendors that day. The county calendar has no market listed for December 26. After December 19, the Saturday option closes for the year.
Piecing Together a November Week
Put the three routes together and November in Union Hall looks something like this:
- Send a preorder early in the week to Smith Mountain Sourdough or Kayla Bowman for bread and baked goods.
- Check Southern Love & Grace's Facebook page for soups, chili, and pies, and order there.
- Stop at Penhook Minute Market or Corner Hideaway in Glade Hill for sauces and jarred goods on a regular errand.
- Save produce, eggs, and meat for a Saturday morning at Citizen Square in Rocky Mount, and buy the holiday greenery there in December.
One detail matters for today. This season the market's food vendor came on the first and third Thursdays of each month, and today is the fifth Thursday in October. Anyone counting on a hot lunch at the last market should plan around that. The Franklin County tourism calendar is where this year's Southlake Thursdays were posted, so it's the place to look for the market's next season.
If you'd like to talk through how this part of the lake works, from Thursday mornings on Old Franklin Turnpike to the coves on the Union Hall side of Hales Ford Bridge, I'm glad to share what I know. Debbie Shelton has worked these Franklin County communities for more than two decades. If you're curious what your own place on this side of the lake is worth, you can request a Free Home Valuation anytime.
