We’re looking forward to a beautiful Saturday. We had
expected a miserable one last week, with a forecast of 50 degrees when we
opened. I wasn’t expecting many folks to come for breakfast and certainly not many
would eat at the market. I dressed for the forecast and arrived at the market
at 6 am wearing five layers of clothing and immediately shed two. It was
downright balmy. And the breakfast turnout was great. Over 60 adults ate
breakfast and 118 children received breakfast and lunch. With the good forecast
and tasty menus, we’re preparing for 75 and 150 respectively this week. Those
tasty menus are:
Adults – Breakfast casserole, a ham, egg, cheese, &
biscuit combo, hashbrown casserole, a wedge of watermelon, and coffee or juice
for $5.
For kids, aged 1 through 18 – Breakfast: Breakfast casserole, baked tomatoes oregano,
cherry tomatoes, and milk. Lunch – chicken salad, Club crackers, ranch dressing
with cucumbers and sweet peppers strips for dipping, and milk.
Folks picking up for their kids should bring a photo of themselves
with the kids so we can get a head count.
All the meals are served for eat in or take out from 9 to 11
under the green canopy north of the pavilion. Justin Cauble performs in the
pavilion from 9 to 11 as well.
Before I go further, I should acknowledge some amazing
market supporters – Ann who held down the fort serving the kids meal, Paul who
saw it looked like we could use some help and stepped in to serve drinks and
keep the kid count, Rick who also stepped in to serve the adult meal and also
serve as runner to the kitchen, and Dan who flipped literally hundreds of
pancakes. I often write about how much I appreciate our vendors, which is very
true, but our volunteers just blow me away.
We’ve got a dandy market lined up for you on Saturday. Ten produce
farms will be there, plus our two mushroom farms. Saturday will be your last
chance to buy elephant garlic from Hillside Farm. I’m stocking up. Grissom Dairy
returns with cows’ cheese. Bakers include Sunflower Bakery, Redings Mill Bread
Company, and Harmony Hill Farm. MaMa JoJo’s Pasta will have uncooked artisan
pasta as well as cooked pasta to go and market-made sauces. We’ll have honey,
specialty coffee, beef, lamb, pork, and chicken. Good Golly Tamale is coming,
as well as DnD Smoked,
Kings Kettle
Corn, 2Ts Soap & Stuff, and Alchemist Haven.
We still have loads of produce, including some new things
like lemon grass and fresh ginger. We still have lots of mums and pumpkins as
well.
This Tuesday is our last weekday market of the year. Songbird’s
Kitchen will have Asian goodies like egg rolls and crab Rangoon. I’ll miss our
quiet easy weekday markets, but they’ll be back in the spring and we’ll
continue to have Saturday markets all year.
I’m going to close with another treasure I have discovered
among my family’s possessions. And I readily admit this has nothing to do with
the market, but, hey, it’s my column. This was a letter dated August 27, 1944,
written from Amarillo, Texas, where my grandfather’s engineering company had a
project underway. My father, who was 18, and was called Bob by his father had
been hired to work on the project as a summer job. This letter was written by
Dad’s father Marvin to his wife Ethel who was, of course, Dad’s mother. “Bob is
certainly enjoying himself. He and I are rooming together. He charges his meals
(to the room which Granddad was paying for), gets spending money off the
dresser (where no doubt Granddad put his money), has his car rented to us
(Freese & Nichols Engineering), and deposits his (pay) check each month. Currently
he has been courting Frances Hardison of Eunice New Mexico who has been working
at the hotel mail desk. 18 years, brunette, plays piano, cello, and has a voice
scholarship at TWC for this winter. She returned home today.”
Yes, Frances was my mother. Marvin had no clue when he wrote the letter that four engagements later he would find himself in Eunice, New Mexico, attending his son's wedding. Four engagements? Well, that's another story.
