Gardendale Alabama Farmers Market

I was just informed that our kettle corn vendor will not be with us
tomorrow due to equipment failure. We will have story reading at 11:30
AM. For those that want their knives, and other tools, sharpened can
have it done on July 27th.

I want to thank those of you that attended the market last week. As
they found, we had to assemble on the parking lot due to the grounds
being saturated and there was concern that the vehicles would damage
the lawn. Some of the customers stated they’d like for us to keep
the market on the parking lot. There are several reasons against this
suggestion. First of all, the parking lot isn’t always available
because of multiple functions within the civic center requiring many
spaces. The heat can be twenty degrees hotter on the blacktop than the
actual temperature. When we used to set up at the K-Mart parking lot,
there were times that the temperature on the black top was between 115
and 120 degrees. We need to have access to electricity which is not
easily available. There’s not enough room for all the
growers/vendors. There were three groups that weren’t able to
attend, and there wasn’t room for them. So, we’ll be back on the
lawn tomorrow.
A couple of customers informed me that there are websites showing the
market hours are 1-5 PM. I contacted our IT division, and I was
informed that these are private websites and we have no power to
correct the hours. If we can be given the website address, the IT
division can try to contact them and ask to either have the time
removed or corrected.
Tomorrow should be a great day with a chance of afternoon storms.
There are watermelons, okra, peaches, blueberries, and a wide variety
of vegetables along with jams/jellies, baked goods, kettle corn, and
marinara sauce. Please come out and support our growers and vendors.

We’ll be setting up on the civic center parking lot near Main St.
due to the saturated ground. We won’t have the vendor that sells
marinara sauce or the one that sells that the baked goods (cookies,
brownies, etc.). Due to a lack of power, our young entrepreneur that
sells the frozen chocolate covered bananas won’t be attending; our
other young entrepreneur, selling cupcakes and ice coffee, will be
present. There will be knife sharpening though. Please come and
support our growers and vendors; it’s been a tough season for all
our market family due to the inclement weather and markets not
opening.

Tomorrow is another unpredictable day and we’re planning on having
the market open. There will be knife sharpening with Bill Woodard. Our
young entrepreneurs, Kid Bakes, selling cupcakes and ice coffee, and
Sister’s Go Bananas, selling chocolate covered frozen bananas and
frozen popsicles made from fruit. We’ll have our hot dog vendor,
Hammer’s Hotdogs, selling a delicious variety of hot dogs. The
mobile America’s First Federal Credit Union ATM will be on the
grounds, too. This will probably be the last day for blueberries due
to all the rain. There will be a variety of vegetables and fruits on
sale, as well as baked goods, honey, marinara sauce and jams and
jellies.
I had someone call me regarding green plums. I’m not a grower, so I
called those that are. I was informed that green plums are normally
harvested in mid-June and are no longer available. So, to answer the
question, there are no green plums.
We hope to see you after having to cancel for two weeks due to the
inclement weather. Please come out and support our growers and
vendors.

I neglected to state that the Veteran’s Recognition Program will
start at 12:00 noon.

I’m sorry to state that the market will be closed again tomorrow
due to the conflicting reports of possible rain and thunderstorms. We
will be holding the Veteran’s Recognition Program in the civic
center auditorium. There will be several guests including the VA
Medical Center, Blind Rehab Center Director, Rose Zuniga as the guest
speaker. If you’ve never seen the Iwo-Jima Reenactment, this will be
a great time to get an idea of what it was like. Those that have seen
it have stated it made a powerful impression for them. Please bring
your children so they may witness this, too. There will be a free meal
to any veteran, city employees, and those involved with the market.
The meal time is from 11:00 AM to noon and 12:30 PM until everyone is
finished.

Due to the potential effects of Tropical Storm Cindy, the market will
be closed tomorrow, June 22nd. Weather permitting next week, Bill
Woodard, our knife sharpener will be attending sharpening knives,
mower blades, and other garden tools; we’ll have our Veteran’s
Recognition program which has been something worth seeing.

Greetings to all. Tomorrow, according to the NOAA Radio Network,
could bring some severe storms in the afternoon into the evening
hours; of course this can change between now and then. Assuming the
weather is good in the morning, we’ll have our two returning young
entrepreneurs, Sofia and Savanna Holliman, Sister’s Go Bananas,
selling chocolate covered frozen strawberries, chocolate covered
frozen bananas, and strawberry lemonade popsicles. Our hot dog vendor
John Hancock, Hammer’s Hotdogs, will be selling his different
varieties of delicious hot dogs. America’s First Federal Credit
Union will have their mobile ATM unit driven by Bob Selby. The market
is now selling peaches, okra, strawberries, blue berries, black
berries, and a limited amount of corn.
Last week, I did state we’d have honey, and that was what was
planned; however, due to all the rain, they couldn’t process the
honey. I’ve been assured that honey will be sold this week. We look
forward to having another great day and looking forward to seeing many
of our regular, and new, customers.

Did you ever have a feeling that when you were doing something that
you forgot something? Well, I did it again. Several customers have
been asking when we’ll have honey. You don’t have to wait any
longer because honey will be sold this week. Story reading will start
this Thursday at 11:30 AM, and the inflatable (bouncy) will be
available for the children.

WOW! We had a fantastic day this past Thursday. We have so many city
employees to thank. The idea of having a Summer Library Kick-off was
originated by librarian Lucy McGill last year, and she did a terrific
job this time. The water slide and inflatable (bouncy) were two of the
main attractions. The petting zoo was offered by Anna Stokley, Chamber
of Commerce Director and Dale Hyche, Parks and Recreation Director. We
were honored by having Miss N. Jefferson Area Queen, Julianna Moreno
and Miss Gardendale Magnolia Fest Queen, Meg McGuire, under the
direction of Lynne Dodson, who did face painting; they raised $80.00
towards the Southeast Blind Rehab Center (VAMC). Police Officer
Culpepper finger printed 75 children, and he stayed beyond closing
time to finish his work. Civic Center Director, Keith Mosley and
maintenance leader, Bill Lenox did a great job of setting up music and
the sound system. Fire Marshall, Jason Murrell, was present to inspect
children’s safety seats. Papa Murphy’s Pizza gave out pizza
samples, and Yogurt Mountain sold a variety of their yogurt. Mayor
Stan Hogeland and City Councilman Greg Culvert made the rounds for
quite a period of time. There was a bee demonstration by Judy and John
Burton that many people truly enjoyed watching. One of our
sponsor’s, Scott Cantrell, State Farm Insurance, gave out bottles of
water, hand bags, and children’s fire helmets. Another of our
sponsors, America’s First Federal Credit Union had their mobile ATM
set up. At our command post, we gave out ten gallons of lemonade and
about seven gallons of water. We really appreciate all the crew from
the parks and recreation department that help us each week; we
couldn’t make this market happen without them. There’s no doubt in
my mind that this was the largest crowd we’ve ever had, and we look
forward to seeing many of you returning.
The weather is predicted to be great this coming Thursday. A booth
will be set up by Brenda Peterson, for Al Power for Clean Air. There
will be blueberries, black berries, okra, a limited supply of corn,
peaches, squash, and other fresh crops. We’ll have cupcakes,
marinara sauce, jams and jellies, non-GMO meats and eggs, kettle corn,
and other baked goods. Please come by and support our growers and
vendors. Don’t forget to let our three sponsors know you saw their
names in our messages.