Arcadia Farmers Market season to end
ARCADIA — The founders of the Arcadia Farmers Market are thrilled with the response received from vendors and customers from the day the market opened on historical Route 66 and Division Street on a beautiful shaded lot in Arcadia.
The market opened June 9 with about a dozen vendors and had grown by August to 22 vendors, said Lori Seagraves, who manages the market. Customer response was so great in the early weeks that vendors often sold out before the 1 p.m. closing time. The Saturday market attracted as many as 500 customers during the height of the garden produce season.
“The market has been a great success, thanks to the owners who have worked so hard,” Seagraves said.
Stacey Mauch, of Mauch Family Farm, said it was worth the drive from the farm near Chandler that her husband’s family homesteaded in 1896.
Mauch said their tomatoes, corn, cantaloupe and watermelons were in high demand, and in September they transitioned to pumpkins, gourds, cornstalks and straw bales for fall decorating. “The people here have been really great. We’ve really enjoyed it,” Mauch said.
Mauch said her sons, Owen, 10, and William, 7, spent the summer helping her raise the produce, and her mother-in-law, Betty Mauch, assisted with sales.
Linda Horn, who serves on the board of the Myriad Botanical Gardens in Oklahoma City, said she shopped at the market several times.
“I’ve always thought Arcadia was the perfect place for that kind of venue,” Horn said. “It’s surrounded by trees and beauty.”
Horn said she has a small garden but used the Arcadia market to supplement and buy things that did not do well for her this year, such as peaches.
She said she also enjoyed the artisan booths.
Vendor Gail Murchison, owner of Something to Remember catering in Bethany, said she attracted repeat customers with her homemade cobbler and other baked goods. “It has been a wonderful experience this summer,” she said. “I look forward to next year.”
Vendor Micah Anderson, of Piedmont, who teaches at Langston University, brought his Piedmont Purple Patch to the market this year. “Purple sweet potatoes are one of my specialties,” he said.
Nonfood vendors offered handcrafted wooden furniture and decorative items, ceramics, handmade jewelry and spa products such as sugar scrubs.
Partners in the market are Jodee McLean and Linda Simonton. “It has been Linda’s plan to use her beautiful property for just such a venture,” McLean said. “We have worked hand in hand with Farm Services, which built our pavilion, and with my love of gardening, it all came together.”
The blue-roofed pavilion was erected soon after the market opened, and a fire pit was added in September. Future improvements will include a playground and permanent restrooms, as the property also will be rented out for special events.
McLean also launched the Snow and Grow shaved ice and food truck to provide breakfast, lunch and treats for customers. Food truck hours were later expanded to Thursdays and Fridays to serve Arcadia residents and Route 66 travelers.
Saturday will be the final day of the market for the season, but the founders are planning a “Christmas in the Park” event for sometime in early December that will feature Christmas crafts and festive foods.
To reserve a booth for Christmas in the Park or get on the list of next year’s vendors, call 405226-0346.