This was a phrase my grandmother would repeat on a sunny morning as the mist from the night’s dew rose from the fields in the warmth of the morning sun. She was always happy to see the sun rise over the fields to the east of their farm house in central Michigan, it meant another day spent doing the things she loved; gardening, cooking for her family and visiting with her neighbors on her egg route. She’s been gone for quite a few years now, but I still like to repeat her phrase when I see the sun shining in the morning, especially on a market day like we had yesterday! We have never had a bigger or better attended market in our history in Kent. Special thanks goes out to the talented members of Kent’s Celtic Clan who performed for us under the Haymaker Bridge. Great job one and all!
People were walking from cars parked all over the downtown area for the opportunity to shop at Haymaker. My 88 year old father found a parking spot north of the Pufferbelly and walked the 3 blocks to see us. He said that he was glad he had brought his cane along, because the walk was a lot more than he had planned. I spoke with customers who had parked on Water Street and walked the distance. As vendors, I think its important to try to park our vehicles at the rear of the market lots so that our customers have better access to street front parking. If there isn’t enough room in the north lot, there are usually extra places along the fence at the rear of the south lot. The market lot actually narrows from the south going north. As the season progresses it seems we have reached our peak capacity in terms of vendors. I never thought I would see the day when it was necessary for me to turn away people from selling, but this has been my unfortunate duty for the last several weeks. My phone and the market email box have been busy places with lots of people wanting to join our market family.
Yesterday brought a few glitches during set up in the morning. I apologize for any bruised feelings. Its my intent to preserve the integrity of the market by mixing types of vendors as well as allowing people to set up where their customers have come to expect them. This isn’t always possible, especially when there are late arrivals, and folks setting up for the first time in the season. I am doing my best to make things happen smoothly and with as little stress as possible. It was necessary for me to set up some vendors along the grass strip between the street and the market lot. I’m afraid that this is something we may be doing more of in the future, but I would like to confine the double row idea to the wider parts of the market. Under the Haymaker bridge is one area that will easily accomodate this sort of arrangement. I need your input on this as well as any concerns you may have. I still have not assigned spaces in the north lot, but will begin this process next Saturday.
I’m still working on the market benches, but have stalled at two because of a lack of free time. If anyone would like to pitch in, we could probably have them finished in a short time. Feel free to give me a call at 330-678-5748, or just respond to this posting.
I’m looking forward to hearing from you,
all the best for the week ahead,
Fritz.
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