After a rainy start to the season, the Allen County Farmers Market was in full swing on a picture perfect evening Thursday.
“This is the first sunny weather we’ve had,” said a delighted Debbie Bearden, Farmers Market secretary. “Today, it’s starting to feel like spring.”
The unofficial theme for the evening was quality of life and well-being. Next to the healthy meats, fresh produce and homebaked goods on display, the Allen County Multi Agency Team (ACMAT) presented Family Safety Night activities.
A drawing was held for three new car seats. Carolyn Carstedt won the infant car seat, Monica Catron the toddler seat and Valerie Smith the booster seat.
“Ultimately, the purpose of our event is to keep families safe,” said Terri DeGeer, co-chair of ACMAT. “You’ll never know if you ended up saving a life or not, or if an accident was prevented, or not, but hopefully through education, we’ve helped to create a better outcome.”
The Farmers Market began anew last year. The number of vendors peaked at 62 by season’s end. Sixteen vendors already have paid the $40 fee for the privilege of setting up in the same spot every week this season, Beardon said.
From the bed of their family pickup, Levi Meiwes, 6, sister, Abigail, 5, and their mom, Becky, were selling bread and cookies they baked Thursday afternoon. The children sold fresh eggs they’d gathered themselves, despite the mean old rooster guarding the henhouse. The wheat for the bread was grown by husband and father, Paul, on the family farm.
Becky says her children look forward to coming to the Farmers Market even more than she does.
“They make me come, even on days when I don’t want to, they make me come here,” Becky said, with a smile.
Julie Aubert, Iola, and her mother, Virginia, LaHarpe, sold homemade jelly, plants and crafts. Veteran vendors at craft sales and markets for more than a decade, the Auberts said the variety of the Farmers Market makes it unique.
“For the size of town we are, we’ve really got a little bit of everything down here,” she said.
In addition to organizing the Farmers Market, Beardon and her husband, Duwayne, sell fresh eggs, meat and produce from Taste T Farm, on Minnesota Road near the airport. They relish the role they play in bringing a fresh alternative to Walmart, the only grocery store in town.
“To us, it has always been important to have good food for our family,” she said. “Now that our sons are grown, the community is our family.”
The Farmers Market is open from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on Thursday evenings early in the season, and then stays open until 7:30 after Memorial Day. All forms of payment are accepted, including electronic transfers necessitated by credit and debit cards as well as those who carry Vision cards. The market will run through Oct. 13.
