For the first time, we have recruited sponsors to help us promote and grow the market.
Drum roll, please.............
Baesler's Market (a great place to buy fresh, local, natural,and gourmet foods all weeklong)
Terre Foods Cooperative Market (to-open-at 7th&Poplar-if-enough people-join)
ButtonWood Restaurant at Sycamore Farm (a gourmet menu,and the best local-food menu in the area)
And Clabber Girl - our host and provider of so much help, making the market possible.
Watch for a whole wave of marketing to hit soon:
Professional posters
New T-Shirts
Yard Signs
More refrigerator magnets
TV Commercials
A Vendor-brochure
Light-pole banners
Please be sure to thank these generous sponsors, and support them with your business - because they support local food and our Downtown Farmers Market!
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Music, yoga,and garden help
Fun stuff for the market this Saturday, June 27:
Traveling singer-songwriter Sabrina will be performing at the market. And the Shanti Center will be leading a yoga demonstration/class,starting around 8:30 am.
The Purdue Extension service will be providing on-site identification of weeds, and pests. Bring a sample or a photo from your garden for expert analysis and advice on how to deal with unwanted plant or insect, or other invaders.
We will be open on July 4, so bring your friends and family downtown to watch the Fast Track Mile race, on Wabash Avenue, then come to the market.
Traveling singer-songwriter Sabrina will be performing at the market. And the Shanti Center will be leading a yoga demonstration/class,starting around 8:30 am.
The Purdue Extension service will be providing on-site identification of weeds, and pests. Bring a sample or a photo from your garden for expert analysis and advice on how to deal with unwanted plant or insect, or other invaders.
We will be open on July 4, so bring your friends and family downtown to watch the Fast Track Mile race, on Wabash Avenue, then come to the market.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
What a great start!
Opening day was terrific! We had 24 vendors, two musical performances, and steady crowds all day long. This is what we had in mind for a downtown farmers market!
Stephanie Salter wrote a great piece in Sunday's Tribune-Star about the opening, and her enthusiasm was shared throughout the crowd on Saturday.
And the growth in vendors (about double) was matched by the number of customers. I saw lots of news faces, and several of our vendors sold out of everything they brought. A few told me that they had their best sales day ever!
We have a new bakery - Marta Skelton's Harvest Bakery. She specializes in sourdough bread - and has captured her own wild yeast strain. So her bread is the essence of Terre Haute - as much as San Francisco's famous bread is unique to that place.
Nathan Paul-Bonham played guitar for nearly three hours! With a break to buy a battery-powered Fender amp, he came back to fill the market air with music.
During his break, the Women of Erin assembled, and graced the market with their ever-popular Celtic music.
I served about 100 cones of free homemade strawberry and blueberry ice cream, then some Edy's after the good-stuff was gone. It was pretty hard to keep the ice-cream from turning to soup in the heat, so this will have to be an occasional venture.
Next week - the Altrusa Buck-book-booth opens with their first monthly appearance. They will have books that you can buy for just one dollar, or you can bring a book to trade. (Donations of books or cash are always welcome, and the funds support local literacy efforts.) Children can pick up a free book too.
One of our new advertising tools/give-aways is a business-card-sized magnet with the familiar red-gold-and-black DFM banner. It is a great reminder to keep on your refrigerator - and apparently, very popular. I started with 1,000 on Thursday, and have given away all but about 75! I think we'll need to order some more.
Look for yard signs to begin popping up around town, too. We will distribute them to our vendors, who will install them along roadsides early on Saturday mornings on their way to market, then pick them up on the way home. Distributed around the community, the signs will be a timely reminder to drivers that Saturday morning is the time to get to the Farmers Market.
Stephanie Salter wrote a great piece in Sunday's Tribune-Star about the opening, and her enthusiasm was shared throughout the crowd on Saturday.
And the growth in vendors (about double) was matched by the number of customers. I saw lots of news faces, and several of our vendors sold out of everything they brought. A few told me that they had their best sales day ever!
We have a new bakery - Marta Skelton's Harvest Bakery. She specializes in sourdough bread - and has captured her own wild yeast strain. So her bread is the essence of Terre Haute - as much as San Francisco's famous bread is unique to that place.
Nathan Paul-Bonham played guitar for nearly three hours! With a break to buy a battery-powered Fender amp, he came back to fill the market air with music.
During his break, the Women of Erin assembled, and graced the market with their ever-popular Celtic music.
I served about 100 cones of free homemade strawberry and blueberry ice cream, then some Edy's after the good-stuff was gone. It was pretty hard to keep the ice-cream from turning to soup in the heat, so this will have to be an occasional venture.
Next week - the Altrusa Buck-book-booth opens with their first monthly appearance. They will have books that you can buy for just one dollar, or you can bring a book to trade. (Donations of books or cash are always welcome, and the funds support local literacy efforts.) Children can pick up a free book too.
One of our new advertising tools/give-aways is a business-card-sized magnet with the familiar red-gold-and-black DFM banner. It is a great reminder to keep on your refrigerator - and apparently, very popular. I started with 1,000 on Thursday, and have given away all but about 75! I think we'll need to order some more.
Look for yard signs to begin popping up around town, too. We will distribute them to our vendors, who will install them along roadsides early on Saturday mornings on their way to market, then pick them up on the way home. Distributed around the community, the signs will be a timely reminder to drivers that Saturday morning is the time to get to the Farmers Market.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Opening Day - Saturday, June 6.
Here we go - opening day is this Saturday - June 6.
I apologize to anyone who showed up last week as a result of the front-page announcement in the TribStar. I'm not sure how that happened, but I think that the White Violet Center's Wednesday Market opened on May 27; perhaps someone figured that the Downtown Market had started as well.
Anyway - the market is going to be significantly bigger this year. I am expecting at least 20 vendors each week, and probably 25 or 30 through the peak part of the season.
We have a lot more music planned this year, and other fun activities to add to the atmosphere of the market. Look for an announcement about the Zucchini 500 race in July.
The opening day may be the only time that Aaron Warner has honey for sale - it goes so fast!
Look for Strawberries this week - to get you in the mood for the Strawberry Festival on Thursday June 11 at the First Congregational Church - 630 Ohio Street.
The Senior Nutriton Program, which last year provided $18 in vouchers for income-eligible seniors, is expanding this year. Starting in mid-June, vouchers for $24 will be distributed in a six(?) county areaby WCIEDD- Area 7 (238-1561). This was a great way to bring some new customers to the market, and gave them access to a variety of produce that they might not buy at the grocery.
See you on Saturday!
I apologize to anyone who showed up last week as a result of the front-page announcement in the TribStar. I'm not sure how that happened, but I think that the White Violet Center's Wednesday Market opened on May 27; perhaps someone figured that the Downtown Market had started as well.
Anyway - the market is going to be significantly bigger this year. I am expecting at least 20 vendors each week, and probably 25 or 30 through the peak part of the season.
We have a lot more music planned this year, and other fun activities to add to the atmosphere of the market. Look for an announcement about the Zucchini 500 race in July.
The opening day may be the only time that Aaron Warner has honey for sale - it goes so fast!
Look for Strawberries this week - to get you in the mood for the Strawberry Festival on Thursday June 11 at the First Congregational Church - 630 Ohio Street.
- In a new tradition, Rev. Lant Davis will bless the season-opening of the Market this week.
- Hallie Hound Barkery will celebrate their second annivversary with a Chamber of Commerce ribbon-cutting at 10 am. We expect Mayor Bennett and the media to be there.
- The Women of Erin open the season with their celtic music this Saturday.
The Senior Nutriton Program, which last year provided $18 in vouchers for income-eligible seniors, is expanding this year. Starting in mid-June, vouchers for $24 will be distributed in a six(?) county areaby WCIEDD- Area 7 (238-1561). This was a great way to bring some new customers to the market, and gave them access to a variety of produce that they might not buy at the grocery.
See you on Saturday!
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