Papa’s Produce–and a little warrior who needs our support: Olmsted Dates and Data

In 1957 Arley Smith started what is now known as Papa‘s Produce with a folding table and high-quality fresh produce. 3 generations later, Olmsted residents still regularly stop by the stand. Smith guaranteed everything he sold, something the current owners Chris Laudos and Kayla Carrero still do to this day. Smith wanted to cultivate customers for life, create a place for families to come, and create memories– like pumpkin picking.

In decades past all the produce was grown on-site, but these days the variety of things sold are sourced all in Ohio, and some even right in Olmsted Falls, such as their honey. Laudos travels 3 or more times a week to collect the produce from the farmers they source from, many of which they’ve been doing business with for decades.

This coming weekend, Sunday, October 27 is their 3rd Annual Fall Festival, a free community event and Chris & Kayla‘s way of giving back. There will be several local vendors, food trucks, games, and activities. The stand will be open for business, and you’ll have the chance to meet the owners, and the rest of the family who helps run it. This event is a collaboration with Muttley Crue Dog Rescue, collecting donations from the vendors instead of charging participation fees.

Laudos shared that people still come and tell him stories about his grandfather, the namesake of the stand. People often ask him who “Papa” is, and Arley Smith was the original papa, but these days Laudos can claim the title with the birth of his daughter Zoey.

Zoey is the real story here– Chris and Kayla welcome Zoey this June on Father‘s Day. During her pregnancy Kayla learned she was a carrier for Krabbe disease, and increasingly more rare, was that Chris was also a carrier. Despite this, doctors assured the expecting parents the odds of Zoey having the infantile version of the disease was so rare, they weren‘t prepared for news they got when she was 2 weeks old. Zoey did indeed have Krabbe disease, and she was in for the fight of her life. There is no cure for Krabbe disease, only a treatment that prolongs the patient‘s life span and eases their symptoms. So Chris, Kayla and Zoey‘s medical team wasted no time in starting and before she was even a month old– she underwent 12 days of aggressive chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant. Despite how hard this journey was for her parents, they continued to give her the best odds at survival, and treatment continued. Zoey received her bone marrow transplant on July 22nd, and unfortunately immediately began to decline in health. For over a month, she was on a ventilator and consistent dialysis because her kidneys couldn‘t keep up. Making it even harder, during this time — Zoey‘s parents couldn’t hold her.

Then came August 12th, Zoey‘s transplant engrafted (meaning it worked successfully) and she began to make a huge turnaround, being more alert, making faces and even making noises at her nurses. Zoey is still in the hospital and will not come home for the first time until she‘s over 6 months old. She has also been accepted into a gene therapy trial associated with creating a cure for the disease, while she can’t yet participate in the trial- Chris and Kayla are hopeful that her participation will prevent another person from having to go through the same thing.

When Zoey comes home, Chris and Kayla need to be able to focus on giving her the best childhood possible. We can all play a part in helping them do that, this weekend consider stopping at the produce stand for pumpkins, mums, or produce. You can also pick up a #ZoeysArmy bracelet or make a donation towards making memories for the family!

Read more from the Sun Post Herald.