Farmer's Market sign erected
Today we made tremendous progress clearing the land for the Farmer's Market
Many thanks go to Dorothy Jones, Ron Dougherty and Jeff Gatton
Click on the picture to see a larger version - you'll be able to read the contact details.As you can see from the picture above, we not only cleared the land ready for the market, but we also erected the "Future Home of Saucier Farmer's Market" sign.
Watch out for more details soon, because we'll be announcing an opening date as soon as we finalise preparations.
Farmer's Market gets planning approval
On Thursday 15th June, 2006, our application to the Zoning Commision was granted
So now we have permission from the county to run the market.
Watch over the next few weeks as we make this happen. On Saturday morning (June 17th) Ron Dougherty and Steve Howard will be meeting to bush-hog the area where the Market will be sited. We'll be mounting the "Future Home of Saucier Farmer's Market" sign. On it will be contact details where potential vendors and everyone else in the community will be able to contact me to find out exactly what we are doing and when. We will be starting around 7:30am. If you have a spare moment, we’d welcome any help you can give us.
If you don’t already know, the market will be situated to the North of the intersection of Saucier-Lizana Road and Old Highway 49, on the east side of the road,
If you are interested in vending, or just want to find out more, please feel free to contact me by phone or email (details on the sign), or else just post questions here.
We have no fixed opening date right now. We need to finalise details - insurance, vendor contract/disclaimer and any other legal stuff we've not covered yet.
When we do open the market, it should be held on Wednesday and Saturday, initially from 6am until 2pm. Times may change once we see what demand is like.
The first Saturday of each month will also be promoted as a Cottage Craft market. If you are an artist of any type, or you knit, make toys or tools or ... well if you have an art or craft that you can sell, we'll be intereted in talking to you about selling your goods on the first saturday of each month.
Let's be clear here. We are
not talking about a flea market here. Anyone turning up and setting up such a stall will be turned away.
This is our first step along the way to a bright future for our community. Please support the market in any way you can.
Efficiency
We will be planning for efficiency whenever we can
With energy costs increasing, this is very important.
At the last SIA Board meeting we discussed Efficiency as a valuable goal in our plans. New building and planning efforts need to consider energy efficiency from day one. Water and sewer plans need to be drawn to avoid unnecessary waste, so we'll look at using grey water for irragation in beautification projects.
we'll keep you informed as our investigations and plans in to efficient methods continues.
Farmer's Market
Sub-committee meeting
June 8 2006
Ad-hoc Development Committee Meeting
June 8, 2006
Present: Steve Howard, Dorothy Jones, Nadine Nicolls
The purpose of this meeting was to address areas of concern identified by the committee.
SIA will be the governing body for the market in the beginning. Later, a separate board may me seated through an election with subcommittees appointed.
There will be a rotation of volunteers to police the market each time it is open.
SIA will lease the land from Dalton McGuire. The details of the lease will be decided upon at a later date. SIA will be responsible for any insurance that is needed. The vendors will be required to sign a disclaimer. This will include information such as who is responsible for clean-up, a list of items that may be sold, and liability. This disclaimer can be adjusted as the need arises.
The Harrison County Board of Supervisors will be notified through Connie Rocko who is aware of the plan to develop a Farmers' Market. Dorothy Jones volunteered to notify the Health Department and the MS Department of Agriculture and Commerce. It was decided that the Harrison County Extension Office should be contacted. It was also determined to be a good idea to notify the surrounding counties and even into LA and AL.
A mission statement needs to be developed to help promote the market. A business plan will be looked at at a later time.
Initially, the vendors will be asked to bring their own tables to set up. Tables will possibly be provided later. Vendors will need to bring their own scales.Portable bathrooms will probably not be able to provided by the county. We will need to look into other possibilities; one being the house on the property. There is water available.
The hours of operation were suggested to be Wednesday and Saturday from 6a.m. till 2p.m. A Thursday evening time will also be considered. The first Saturday of each month will be the time allotted to sell crafts. It was suggested to investigate using the community center in case of inclement weather.
We will actively encourage Saucier farmers to sell at the market, but we will also allow others to set up booths. There will be no fee in the beginning, but something may be charged at a later date. There will be definite regulations about what can and cannot be sold at the market. Those items allowed: fresh produce, honey, eggs live plants, preserves, and cottage crafts. This list will be amended as needed.
The name will be Saucier Farmers' Market. There is a sign announcing it to be put up. We will contact people about advertising it on their signs. Lisa Gregore will be responsisble for putting it in the paper.
Information about the market will be on the blog. There are associations for markets that we could join. There are also grants available. Wayne Jones is working on developing a logo for SIA that would also be used in conjunction with the market.
Click on the picture to see a larger version - you'll be able to read the contact details.
