Take market goodwill to the bank
Staff writer
Handmade trinkets, woven cloth, and freshly-picked produce. Homemade cakes, cookies, muffins, zwieback rolls, and bierocks. Jellies, jams, and even barbecue sauces.
These types of goodies can be found at farmers markets around the county — especially weekly ones in Marion, Peabody, and Hillsboro.
For vendors, the markets can turn a hobby into a side hustle. For locals and passersby, they can be an entertaining stop on the way to another next destination.
But beyond transactions, they are a way to further connect with community members.
“It’s a fun way to get together, meet people, and see what’s out there,” said Juanita Page, who sells baked goods at the farmers market in Hillsboro.
Brianna Franklin found that out while visiting relatives this past week.
Originally from Missouri, Franklin’s mother told her about the famers market each Thursday in Hillsboro’s Memorial Park. Franklin visits farmers markets “as much as we can” back home and understands the value they bring to smaller communities.
“I love going to farmers markets. Just chatting at all the different tables with all the different people and looking at all the different things that everybody makes,” she said. “I enjoy that, supporting small businesses.”
Christy Penner makes and sells barbecue sauces at the markets in Hillsboro and Marion. More often than not, her sons are right by her side.
She started making the sauces for family members as a hobby. Since then, it’s grown into a weekly job.
What started as a borrowed recipe has become Penner’s own, featuring flavors like red pepper and hickory-smoked.
“We started talking about letting others try it,” Penner said. “My husband, Nelson, works at Kropf Lumber in Hesston, and he started giving it to his coworkers. It was an instant hit.”
Few know how to turn a hobby into a connecting point better than Tom Richmond, who has sold produce nearly every Wednesday and Saturday for the past 15 years in Marion’s Central Park.
For him, it’s a labor of love.
Now retired, Richmond spends about 30 hours a week planting, watering, weeding, and plucking produce in his garden on S. 2nd St. in Marion. Sometimes, his grandchildren help.
The nearly full-time affair has paid off. More often than not, Richmond’s potatoes, tomatoes, green beans, and squash are gone before it is time to pack up.
“I do have things that sell better than others,” he said. “I got a little bit of everything. That way, everybody has a little something they like.”
Repeat customers are common in Page’s case that over the five years she has been a vendor, she notices when someone has not stopped by.
In turn, customers have come to notice when their favorite vendor is not there.
“They come to rely on you,” Page said. “If you’re not there, they miss you.”