The board is currently made up of the market manager and several of the vendors. Fran, our market manager, is doing an awesome job of bringing everyone together to plan for the coming season. Longer hours were discussed this week and approved to start 1/2 an hour earlier than last year. The markets' hours will be 3:30-6:00pm on Wednesdays starting in mid-May.
The Pullman Chamber of Commerce sponsors and supports the market. 2012 will be the 4th season for our market and it continues to grow. I suspect this season will be no different!
The market is located at what we refer to as "the Spot Shop Lot". The city owned parking lot is on 240 NE Kamiaken. The City has been very generous in allowing our use and Alan and staff with the Parks and Rec department has been more than helpful in getting us the information booth, bike rack, and a locked box to keep our belongings in. It takes the cooperation of many to bring your weekly market to Pullman, and without them we'd be lost! Thank you.
The vendors are charged a small fee for attending and providing us with their great produce, however the fees don't come close to covering the current expenses of the market. It's imperative that we have a market manager that understands the community, the vendors, the challenges, and the future of our market. We don't compensate Fran nearly enough for all she is doing to help our market grow, but she is willing to put her heart and soul into it, and for that we're very grateful. Signage, a portapotty, marketing and entertainment. These all take money and time. The chamber will support the market again this year, but continue to strive for a self-sustaining market through grants, sponsorships and donations.
New to the market last season were 'community nights'. The board continues to look for ways to involve the community and educate our student and resident population about the weekly market. Community Night involved having non-profit groups share space with our vendors to educate the public about their services. It was a great fit and we will continue to offer them in 2012. We continue to look for other ways to include residents who may have cut flowers to sell or other garden 'extras'.
The Pullman Transit System has added a bus stop at Pine Street Plaza (between Taco Del Mar and Thomas Hammer) that will better serve the market as well. The new route will be called the Loop Route and will have service from Walmart on Harvest, Bishop Blvd, Main St, Transfer Station, Grand Ave to Stadium Way, Stadium Way to Main St, Main St. to Grand, and Grand back down to Community Action Center and then to Walmart. It will run on approximately 20-25 minute loops. It will run from 3:40pm to 9:15pm Monday through Friday.
The board is currently updating the 2012 vendor application and should be ready by February 15th. It can be found on our website at www.pullmanchamber.com
I'm looking forward to seeing what our local farmers have been up to this winter....I've heard from some that they're pouring over the new seed catalogs in search of the best for our community! I can't wait!
Marie~ExDir
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