MARKET ON WHEELS vs. FIESTAS PATRIAS

Why not do both?

South Park is the place to be this Saturday. Come to the market at 10am, shop, eat, etc., and grab one of the best spots in town for the parade. When the dancing horse guys are done and the leftovers are picked up off the road, you can wander down to the festival at the community center on 8th. It runs until 5pm so there is plenty of time to celebrate at both locations. The market is over at 3pm.

Or come, go down to the festival and then come back. Just remember the main streets are all closed for the parade from 9am to noon. Which means, unless you know the back roads across the south park bridge, you are gonna end up parking and walking. If you want to come to the market but want to drive all the way and have parking, then be sure to come after 12:30 or 1pm. There will still be lots of good stuff, art, fresh veggies and good food to eat. Live music from 11 to 1pm.

See you Saturday morning or afternoon.

THIS SATURDAY, FINAL MARKET 2009

Join us for our final market of the 2009 season. It’s that simple. 10am – 3pm.

A parade in town and a festival down the street. South Park is the place to be this Saturday, September 19th. Corner of 14th and Cloverdale in the Napoli’s Pizza parking lot. Parking available on the streets. But if you can walk or ride your bike, all the better.

DON’T MISS OUR LAST MARKET OF 2009

A big sent off with encouragement for the next year’s season is what we are hoping to see at this month’s Market on Wheels.

Here are all great questions to ask yourself:

Do you like having a farmers market in South Park?

Do you like having the majority of the produce sold at the market
come from an organic farm just blocks away?

Do you like that the vendors are residents and business owners in South Park?

Do you like eating amazing roasted corn and fresh handmade tamales, fresh made tortillas?

Do you like a smaller less crowded market?

Do you like reasonable priced quality produce?

Do you like seeing artists and other local folks making products to sell in their neighborhood?

Do you like the bilingual (Spanish & English) market?

Do you love fresh beautiful bouquets of flowers?

If you answered yes to one or all of these questions, then you owe it to yourself and the vendors to come on Saturday, September 19th for a great final market of the year. And you get  two great events this month to enjoy. Make a day of it. Come to the market. Shop and enjoy, sit down on the curb and watch the parade and then even follow it to the community center for more fun within the community. Enjoy the market and Fiestas Patrias.

The market starts at 10am and goes through 3pm. Fiestas Patrias runs through 5pm. Parade goes right past the market and is one of the best places to watch the parade. Park on the side streets and walk on over. Because of the parade, 14th will be closed south of Cloverdale and then Cloverdale will be closed from 14th down to 8th Ave. And 8th Ave will be closed up to the community center.

Good food and good booths at both places. Hope to see you there.

PLANNING STARTS FOR NEXT YEAR

The South Park Market on Wheels is going to be a great weekly bilingual market that is sustainable. We had our first meeting last night with a new group of excited folks who are coming together to start planning next years market now (an advisory board).

We haven’t even had our last market this year, but hats off is what we heard. When Luis Amado (a vendor and an advisory board member) polled folks about the market and it’s image and overall community impact, all votes came in with positive responses and very positive impact responses. The community is really coming together. It’s starting small but growing, and perhaps that is a good way to be sustainable.

One of the big comments have always been that we need more publicity. My budget has only been so much with grant money, so I am asking you one favor as a reader. Please if you will just make sure you tell at least one person about the market. Let’s spread the word in a grassroots fashion much like the entire market has been organized. And if you wanted to tell more than one, well, I sure wouldn’t be upset by that.

Suggestions we heard in the meeting last night were:

• Weekly in 2010
• Longer hours so folks who work on Saturdays can also shop
• more produce stands
• a monthly art market
• a cake walk and other community involved activities
• more music
• a flea market in a lot next door

We decided to also make sure that even if everyone in the room at the meeting can speak English, that we will continue to translate each meeting in both languages so that anyone who wishes to participate can feel comfortable. It makes our meetings a little longer but really speaks to what we are trying to accomplish in South Park.

Since our last market we have been asked by other markets how to get their diverse community involved in their own markets. Word on the street is that we are doing something right. The Market on Wheels meetings are the only real neighborhood meetings in South Park that are truly bilingual meetings that I know of. Hopefully that shows our community how dedicated we are to our entire community. And somewhere maybe in the mix some of us start learning a new language.

All in all a great new group of folks coming out to help facilitate that this market survives.