First time Farmers Market

Wayne Hopkins of Arlington arranges plants and at his merchant table at the Estelline Farmers Market grand opening. (Photo by Joe O’Sullivan)

By Joe O’Sullivan, Staff Writer

Published: Saturday, June 21, 2008 12:01 AM CDT

     Gathered amongst a bonanza of produce, flowers, knickknacks and gourds, neighbors assembled Friday evening to celebrate and shop at the grand opening of the Estelline Farmers Market. The farmers market was held at Gazebo Park on the corner of Main Street and Route 28 from 4 to 7 p.m.
     Eight vendors represented local farmers, artists and residents as tables were laden with alfalfa, tomatoes, eggs, odds-and-ends and even decorative gourds. Buyers and sellers alike munched on celebratory slices of cake and communed with friends.
     Julie Sperlich, a farmer who lives between Toronto and White, was one of the vendors. “We’re gonna try it,” she said, noting that she plans to sell homemade dog biscuits, garlic and various herbs. Sperlich also sells at the farmer’s market in Brookings. “I sell eggs there, too. Not here though, I don’t have enough chickens for two markets,” she said with a chuckle. Sperlich found out about the farmer’s market through an ad in the paper.
     Landscaper Wayne Hopkins brought an assortment of plants and flowers. “We thought we’d try another venue and see if there is any interest,” said Hopkins, who lives in and runs a greenhouse at Arlington. “This is some stock from our greenhouse,” Hopkins said, as he laid out a tray of pepper plants. Vegetables are always popular, along with annual flowers, he said.
     The market wasn’t just about produce. Tucked away behind the gazebo, Seth Pomrenke sold lemonade and Rice Krispy bars for 50 cents underneath an umbrella, where children gathered, away from the crowds culminating along the sidewalk and stalls. A slideshow presentation was set up at the edge of the park, but was put out of commission by the bright sun. Farmer and vendor Amanda Svec took breaks selling eggs and tomatoes by playing fiddle, silently laughing and nodding to friends in the crowd as she performed.
     Cheryl Hoseck, a graduate of Estelline High, set out original pencil sketches of horses and rodeos. On particular print of a cowboy mounting a horse in its stall took a long time to finish, she said, because she had to shade over the background eight times to get the perfect tone of black. Another sketch included her horse and cat, which together she named “Buddies.” “In the winter that cat would always ride on the horse’s back,” Hoseck said. Hoseck and her husband Lyndon — “like the president, only a Republican,” Lyndon stated — raise cattle and horses and grow corn and wheat on their farm east of Brandt. Lyndon sat in a chair and drank in the commotion as his wife arranged their sale items.
     The farmers market was organized by Horizons, a project coordinated by South Dakota State University’s extension service, that assisted with organizing and funding. The extension service provides SDSU faculty to give training and logistical support to projects in communities like Estelline. The SDSU extension service has branches established in each of South Dakota’s 66 counties.
     In this case, residents expressed enthusiasm for a local market, and Horizons worked to make it a possibility. They secured funding through the Northwest Area Foundation, a St. Paul-based nonprofit organization with the goals of alleviating poverty in Midwestern and Mountain States, said Karla Trautman, Extension Specialist in Leadership Development at SDSU.
     With community development projects like Horizons “The overall goal is to build and expand community capacity,” she said. Benefactors of Horizons must meet certain eligibility requirements: Towns have to be smaller than 5,000 in people, with at least 10 percent of the population below the poverty line. Community members also need to commit the willpower and energy the make a project like the farmers market happen, Trautman said. Once the criteria is met, Horizons works to coordinate the community. “We provide a community coach,” who can help the community identify what services they lack and what assets they have but are not taking advantage of. In this case, the idea of a farmers market was a perfect fit.
     Trautman noted that poverty is not solely based on finances, but a lack of resources. “Poverty comes in many different forms,” she sad. The farmers market fills this gap by allowing farmers to make money and help the community get to know one another.
     The market developed like a time-elapse photo: At 3:15 p.m. Gazebo Park was an empty square; at 3:30 p.m. Estelline resident Mary Buckmiller began setting up card tables; by 3:45 p.m. several vendors had set up shop and a crowd of onlookers had gathered. Buckmiller took the lead directing vendors, and dispensing the schedule of events from her booth, situated square in the middle of the vendors.
     “I don’t think it’s a formal setup here,” Buckmiller said to Sperlich, who was asking where she should set up her booth. As soon as residents decided to organize a farmers market, Buckmiller knew. “I’m a member of Horizons, so I had an inside track on it,” she said.
     The idea for a farmers market came about because “we had small meetings and we brainstormed ideas” on what we thought the community needed, Buckmiller said. “I understand they’re going to write grants for other communities in South Dakota,” she added, about the Horizons program. Buckmiller is the coordinator of the children’s garden, a new Estelline garden which Horizons sponsored. The project was implemented just this year. Though she still considers herself a newcomer to town, Buckmiller has been an Estelline resident for 35 years. Buckmiller had come to sell decorative gourds. “I raise gourds, I’m really a gourd artist,” she said, adding that she hoped she could let the community know that there are artists in the area. Buckmiller grows the gourds on her farm just outside Estelline. She had a wide variety of gourds with her — from dirty, just-harvested to ones which were enameled, painted and decorated. Using mostly natural products to decorate the gourds, she first allows them to dry over the winter in the field. Letting them mature outside produces thicker shells, she said. “There are gourd societies all over the U.S.,” Buckmiller said. “Weird, I know.”
     Most people parked down Main Street and arrived on foot; one older gentleman pulled right up front via antiquated pickup, his vehicle coughing for a few seconds after the engine stopped. By the time grand opening ceremonies began at 4:20 p.m. nearly 50 people and a smattering of rain had arrived.
     A ceremonial check presentation was held, in which $8,500 was handed over to community members to help fund the farmers market. A laptop computer and printer were also presented for Estelline’s burgeoning community technology center. Trautman, Latif Lighari, Director of the Cooperative Extension Service at SDSU and Cheryl Jacobs, Horizons Community Coach, each spoke and thanked the community for its work.
     “This is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate your work in action,” Trautman said. “Thank you for doing this,” Lighari said. “You need to thank yourselves,” Jacobs said. The mentorship of the local Horizons group officially ended with the launch of the farmer’s market. “Horizons ends now, but we’re still here to help,” Jacobs said.
     Aside from the children’s garden and farmers market, other Horizons projects in Estelline have included a technology center and an aluminum can recycling program. The program also bought a new freezer for the food pantry operated by Trinity Lutheran Church, located in Estelline. All of the Horizons members pleaded for more volunteers, though by the sea of neon green Horizons ‘Can Do Crew!’ T-shirts, the organization seemed to be off to a strong start. Right before the check presenting ceremony one woman was overheard berating her husband, who was still wearing his plaid button-up. “Where’s your shirt?”

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 21st, 2008 at 9:19 am and is filed under 03. Poverty: Action, 11. Community: Action. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.