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CONTRIBUTED PHOTO — Assorted goods available at the Winter Market.
“Third time’s a charm” applies to the Cartwright Winter Market.
Today, the market will be held inside Central Christian Church beginning at 10 a.m. Trisha Wilder, market manager of Cartwright Downtown Farmer’s Market, said 2024 is the third time they have tried an indoor market.
“The first year, we rented at Riverview Park, and did not get a lot of traffic,” she said. “We used a spot at St. Francis last year. This year, we needed a change of plan. We needed a new location.”
Wilder was familiar with how Central Christian was set up, and knew it would be a good venue.
“We wanted a more permanent location,” she said.
The first indoor market this year was held Jan. 27, and Wilder said they had enough success to schedule future market dates.
“A lot of our regular customers showed up,” she said. “We wanted to get a feel for how it would work.”
Since February is not a growing season, customers will not see a lot of fresh produce at the market. Wilder said items for sale are crafts, eggs, baked goods, noodles, leather works, sourdough bread and jams and jellies.
Taking community events into account, she set dates for future indoor markets. May 1 will see the return of the outdoor farmers market on North Second Avenue which also brings a new concern. The finished construction on State Street has reduced the amount of parking spaces vendors and customers previously used.
“We would like to stay near State Street as long as possible,” Wilder said. “We have had steady growth.”
When the peak farmers market season hits, she said they have an overflow with vendors spilling out from the pavilion onto the sidewalk or parking lot off of North Second Avenue and State Street. Wilder hopes as the traditional market season approaches, more residents will check out the indoor venue to buy items from their neighbors or sell their wares.
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Contact Lana Bradstream
at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or
lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.
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