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'Signora Bella'--Jody Ellis of Fredericksburg--walks the slackrope as attendees watch.
Don Prunty, wearing a carrot outfit, greeted visitors to the King George County Farmers Market on Community Appreciation Day.
Local squash and green beans were some of the vegetables available from growers in King George.
Farmers Market manager DeLaura Padovan greets those who |
BY CHELYEN DAVIS
By noon at the King George Farmers Market Community Appreciation Day, Monica and Jeff Schenemann's fish were sold out.
Vegetable grower Benny Goodman had only a few cucumbers and other vegetables left. The egg co-op was out of eggs. Carol and Craig Wheeler were looking at the last few packages of Carol's homemade baked goods. The Rotary Club was out of barbecue.
In other words, market organizers said, yesterday's events were a success.
"We just invited the whole community to come and celebrate this new market," said farm market manager DeLaura Padovan. "The crowd has been really big today."
The farmers market is a new one, started in May. The first Saturday it was open, there were three vendors. Now there are 15.
The community day was to celebrate and help make the community aware that the market is there, in the parking lot of King George Elementary School.
Besides the food, attendees could watch Aubrey Mitchell make butter, look at a 1955 Allis-Chalmers CA tractor rebuilt by local high school students, view a demonstration on spinning wool, listen to the Marenje Marimba Ensemble (a group of young people from Fredericksburg) and watch Signora Bella, a slackrope walker.
Padovan said she didn't have a crowd count, but estimated that several hundred people visited the market yesterday.
She said 200 schedules were gone, along with 250 magnets.
The market is designed to showcase local food--vendors must be from King George County and must sell items they have raised, made or caught themselves.
For Benny Goodman, who began gardening this year, that's part of the market's appeal.
"I like the philosophy behind this market," Goodman said.
He said the market is helping educate consumers, some of whom wonder where the tomatoes are (they're not in season yet).
Elizabeth Bewick, who sells plants raised in her greenhouse and whose idea the market was, also likes the educational aspect of selling locally grown food.
"People need to know where their food is coming from," Bewick said. "Kids think milk comes from a grocery store. I wanted people to get back to their roots. This used to be a huge farming community."
Monica Schenemann, whose husband, Jeff, catches and sells fish, mostly to wholesalers, said the farmers market gives them another outlet for their catch.
The fish have done well at the King George market, she said, selling out every week.
"It's great for the community because you don't have to go all the way to Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania."
Near Schenemann's truck, people could buy cuts of grain-fed beef from Miles Hastings of Canning Farm.
Hastings said the market is "doing very well" and that customers are returning week after week.
"It's slowly growing," he said. "I think everybody's having fun with it."
Carol Wheeler makes cookies and other baked goods to sell, while her husband, Craig, brings his vegetables. They said each week has seen more customers, and more vendors.
"This farmers market is a blessing," Carol Wheeler said.
The King George Rotary Club doesn't normally have a booth at the market, but members came Saturday for the community day. Not knowing how many people to expect, they didn't bring quite enough barbecue, but Ruritan Roy Maloy said he was pleased to see a big crowd.
"I was glad to see it was well-attended," Maloy said. "I think it'll grow."
The market runs every Saturday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the King George Elementary School parking lot, on Ridge Road off State Route 3.
Chelyen Davis: 540/368-5028
Email: cdavis@freelancestar.com
