It’s finally Holiday Time! I’m stubborn - first there is Halloween, then Thanksgiving, and THEN Christmastide. I know, I am totally out of step with retail reality, but I celebrate in season. That may be why I love the market and its seasons so much.
Today is our annual Holiday Market which we
have held the day before Thanksgiving for years. We’ll be open in the pavilion
from 11 to 1. We expect three farms with local produce just harvested for your
Thanksgiving table. Food like tossed salad fixin’s, winter squash, carrots,
broccoli and more. Our bakers will have cakes, cookies, pies, dinner rolls,
pumpkin rolls and cinnamon rolls. We’ll have jams and jellies, the new season’s
picked out pecans, kettle corn, some of the best goat cheese you’ll ever taste,
pork, and live shrimp.
Madewell Pork will be at the market for the
first time since summer. Steve sells at Greater Springfield Farmers Market
which also is open on Saturdays so the Holiday Market is one of his few chances
in the winter to get to our market. Take advantage of it. We don’t expect him
back for a while.
Both our soap vendors, Jane’s Art Glass, and other
crafters will be at the market. If you have family coming in that you won’t see
again before Christmas, stop by and pick up a locally made gift to send home
with them. Save the postage. The post office is swamped this time of year.
Stewart’s Bakery will serve chicken noodle
soup for eat-in or take out. Scott Eastman graces the market stage.
It’s a short market, only two hours long, but
a mighty one. There are fewer vendors than usual but an excellent selection
geared to Thanksgiving.
Since it’s the day before Thanksgiving, you
won’t see any Christmas decorations unless you peek through the windows to the
south section of the pavilion. We’ve started putting them up there but it will
be closed off until Saturday when we will be decked out in our holiday best!
Saturday is Small Business Saturday. It’s a
national campaign and we’ll join the celebration, but let’s face it – every Saturday
is Small Business Saturday at the market. We have more than 50 small businesses
that sell during the year. We expect about 30 to be at the market Saturday.
Stewart’s Bakery will serve a hearty breakfast.
Just Jake and Corky will be on the market stage.
The first Saturday in December we begin the
first Polar Bear Express. Like Clickety Clack, this is a collaboration of the
market, the Friends of the Library and the Southwest Misouri Railroad
Association. The streetcar, festooned with Christmas garland, balls, and lights,
will run every 20 minutes from the station just west of the market from 9 to
noon. The book, The Polar Express, is read during the 15 ride through the park.
We’ll have a fun holiday craft for kids in the
pavilion, where they will also get to visit with Ms. Claus or Santa or both! Tickets
to the free ride can be reserved at EventBrite.com. Just search for Polar Bear
Express Webb City. It all begins December 1.
Unfortunately, the Park’s night time Polar
Bear Express is sold out. You can still see some of the light show by driving
through the park, but the roads are usually blocked for safety on Thursday,
Friday, and Saturday nights when the streetcar is operating.
So get on EventBrite.com and get your free
reservations for the Saturday morning ride. And I’ll see you at the market
today and every Saturday!
