Farmer's Market great success
The 2004 Downtown Whitefish Farmers Market came to a close on Tuesday, September 21, and a big "Thank You" is in order to all who helped make this inaugural season a great success.
As a volunteer and market vendor, I saw many hands pitch in to get this event off the ground. First and foremost, thanks to the Heart of Whitefish for being the driving force behind this community-building project. They rallied the city to secure all permits, covered all insurance costs, designed and purchased all of the sandwich boards and banners, and provided volunteers to close off the street, organize vendors, and manage the market. Key people working on their behalf were Nancy Svennungsen, Rhonda Fitzgerald, Jen Jones, John Kramer, Mark Svennungsen, Barb Brant, Pam Gerwe, Sue Moll and Jean Arcel.
A big part of the evening was the addition of live music. For 14 weeks, under the canopy of the Big Sky, families and friends could come and listen to free concerts wonderfully coordinated by Jay DiPaola. Scores of thanks to him, and to all of the musicians and their sponsors: Greg Grant (The Village Shop/Indigo Creek Clothing); John Floridis (Feury and Company); Diedre Heaton (Rob Pero); Jay DiPaola (Nelson's Hardware); Frank O'Brien (Alan Elm); Linda Woods(Malmquist Construction); Room One (Whitefish Credit Union); Lee Zimmerman (Chuck Olsen Real Estate); Jibran (Mike Jopek); Jeff Arcel (Whitefish Credit Union); Seven Worthies of the Bamboo Grove (Third Street Market); Doug Rommereim (McCabe Plumbing/Sappari); Trae Le Gael (Hit the Hay/Sprouts); and The Stringlers (Kintla Copy and Creative).
Special thanks to Heidi Howeth who painted a beautiful watercolor that was used in the market's poster, to Carolyn Pitman for the use of the O'Shaughnessy building for electricity and storage, to Ken and Cindy Stein for sponsoring the 2005 Poster Contest and to Jeremy Persica at the Parkside Credit Union.
Lastly, to all of the growers, artists, craftspeople, food vendors and THE BUYING PUBLIC WHO SUPPORTED THEM, thank you for coming together and showing that selling and buying locally makes for a really great way to spend a summer evening!
Terri Feury
Whitefish