Robbinsville – You may know it as Graham County Farmer’s Market, but starting in 2022, there’s been a tweak.
It is now Graham County Farmer’s Market & Crafts.
Fourteen Farmer’s Market vendors – representing 12 tables – met on Jan. 11, at the Graham County Library to discuss goals for 2022, including marketing, branding and plans for the year.
One goal is to offer music at the market and organizers will be reaching out to performers and music groups to fill available slots.
Fundraising events for 2022 include:
* May 7: Car Show, selling hot dogs/Polish sausage dogs, chips and dessert. Toppings include homemade sauerkraut and sauces. Desserts available for sale;
* May 14: Opening day for the Farmer’s Market;
* June 18: Cookie Creations;
* July 16: Tomato Tasting Contest;
* Aug. 13: Corn Boil;
* Sept. 17: Chili Cook-off;
* Oct. 15: Veggie Soup contest;
* Nov. 19: Final day of the season at the Famer’s Market;
* Dec. 10: Hometown Holiday at Robbinsville High School.
Organizers want to promote Farmer’s Market as a destination for Saturday morning breakfast, crafts and a place to pick up fixings for dinner.
They are putting extra efforts into branding and advertising. They agreed to change the name from Graham County Farmer’s Market to Graham County Farmer’s Market & Crafts. They also realized that a print run of 250 brochures didn’t last as long as they expected, so more will be ordered in 2022.
They are seeking permission from the N.C. Department of Transportation and landowners to place 4-5 permanent signs guiding to customers to its location. Two will be located on Rodney Orr Bypass, one on Sweetwater Road and another on N.C. Highway 129.
They plan to replace the inserts in their folding signs with more directional signs and are looking to have a logo created for Graham County Farmer’s Market & Crafts.
“Our goal is to keep the market free to vendors and raise money through donations, fundraisers and grants,” the report said. “At this point in our operation, we feel that charging a fee will discourage new vendors from coming. We feel that the more vendors, the more customers (locals and visitors) we will have.”
A moving target
“We found that we had to be mobile,” the report said of lessons learned in 2021.
Graham County Public Library gave Farmer’s Market permission to use the parking lot on Saturdays, but midway through the season, the Graham County Health Department set up a COVID testing area in the portion of the library parking lot that Farmer’s Market was using.
Graham County Schools allowed Farmer’s Market to move onto its property, the school parking lot. This meant moving canopies, tables and supplies some distance, using county jail inmate labor to help out.
Saturday, youth-football games forced Farmer’s Market to move a couple more times around the school parking.
“We realized that there may be a time in the near future that we will need to find a more permanent location,” according to the report.
In its annual report, Farmer’s Market’s announced it will seek an agreement with the library and Graham County government to use the south side parking area on Saturdays starting May 14 – Nov. 19, from 7:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Farmer’s Market will also request permission to place a permanent sign by the entrance.
Future goals are to find a location on Rodney Orr Bypass or in town. However, before they look into this, they need an enclosed trailer to house the tables, tents, supplies, and so on, for ease of loading and unloading.
The year in review
The 2021 season had a weekly average of 14 vendors over its 29-week season, with a one-week high of 24 vendors and a low of seven. Customers included local residents and visitors.
Graham County Farmer’s Market & Crafts Smoky connected with Mountain Native Plants, Inc. and assumed its nonprofit status in early 2021.
Fundraising and special donations allowed Farmer’s Market to have live music during the season. Performances included Frank & Allie Lee from Bryson City – which performed on three occasions – and Julie Nelms at the Hometown Festival.
For July 4, vendors decorated with red, white and blue, and flags. To commemorate 9/11, Farmer’s Market decorated with full-size flags borrowed from the Extension Office and 4-H.