There are bunches of events that Vienna-area residents look forward to every year… ViVa! Vienna!, HVI’s Easter egg hunt, the Halloween parade, July 4 fireworks and the Vienna Farmers’ Market.
Vienna Farmers’ Market Family Events
The Optimists offer free giveaways, food-focused contests and scavenger hunts. A balloon artist creates balloon animals each month.
Faith Baptist Church plans to offer these activities for children, as well.
May 4, Opening Day: bounce-house, free popcorn and face painting
June 8, Game Day: hula hoop contests, tug of war, relays and sack races, egg toss and prizes
July 13, Water Fun Day: sno-cones, watermelon seed-spitting contest, water balloon toss, sprinklers, slip-n-slide and wading pool
Aug. 24 Give Back Day: Support a military organization
The farmers’ market, hosted and operated by the Optimists of Greater Vienna, kicks off on May 4 at a new location on Center Street at Faith Baptist Church, across the street from Waters Field and a block away from Patrick Henry Library and the W & OD trail.
“The deal was just agreed to on Friday [April 8] with Faith Baptist Church and we are thrilled,” said Optimist and Co-Market Master Sarah Jane Brady. “When Shannon [Matthews, Faith Baptist Church outreach director] called me, I thought, ‘this is a perfect marriage,’” said Brady. “The Optimists focus on kids’ things, and the church has always done special events for kids. Shannon has ideas already.”
THE FARMERS’ MARKET, said Brady, is a great place to meet up with neighbors and friends, and to make new friends, as much as it is a great place to buy local seasonal produce. The Vienna Farmers’ Market hosts the Master Gardeners for free gardening advice. It is a producer-only market, meaning that vendors must have grown or made what they are selling on their own land, garden or in their kitchen(s).
Dave Lanphear, co-market master and husband to Brady, said that one of the main reasons people come to the Vienna Farmers’ Market is to meet the people who are growing their food. “Sometimes the farmers have just picked the produce the night before, and you can chat with the farmers themselves,” Lanphear said.
When the Vienna Farmers’ Market lost its space in the caboose parking lot this January, market masters Brady and Lanphear set out to find new space, knowing a new location should be central and have space for 20-plus vendors. Faith Baptist Church came to the rescue.
A congregation member at Faith Baptist Church read, in a local publication, that the Optimists were looking for a home for the farmers’ market. She passed that on to Shannon Matthews, wife of Pastor Dave Matthews, who thought hosting the farmers’ market would fit right in with the church’s goal to be part of the community.
“When I asked my husband if he wanted me to follow up with this he said, ‘absolutely,’ right away,” said Matthews.
The church, Brady noted, offers family activities for the community, from free “G” movies to play events once a month, usually on Saturday. Matthews said she has already submitted Faith Baptist Church family-fun suggestions to Brady for consideration. The idea is to provide supervised activities for children while their parents are at the market.
“We’re always looking for way to show care for our community,” said Matthews. “When this opportunity came up, we said, ‘this is perfect for us.’”
Brady described the farmers’ market as a “melding” of the community, bringing together neighbors and food. When at the caboose lot, two wedding parties from the Vienna Presbyterian Church took photos there. People have gotten engaged at the Vienna market and last summer a couple asked if they could be married at the market. “Now that we’re at a church, we can actually help people get married at our market.”
The Vienna Farmers’ Market, hosted by the Optimists of Greater Vienna, opens on Saturday, May 4, 8 a.m. to noon, and runs continuously through Oct. 26.
VENDORS who have signed to-date with the Optimists’ Vienna Farmers’ Market [* indicates new] include: Kuhn Orchards, McLeaf's Orchard, Friendly Hall Farms, Westmoreland Produce, and Lois’s Produce (all selling produce); Smith Family Farm and Friendly Hall Farms, both selling free-range and organic meats; The Mushroom Stand Limited selling organic mushrooms; Everona Dairy (sheep cheese) selling cheese; Caffe Amouri selling coffee; and Pit Beef at the Market, Reubens Crepes at the Market and Mama's Donut Bites selling ready-to-eat foods.
Additional vendors are Annette's Amazing Granola, Swiss Bakery, Borek-G, Savage Fudge, Salsas Las Glorias, Blue Ridge Gardens*, Gypsy Hill Foods, Fresh Crunch (pickles and vegetables).
Nineteen vendors as of mid-March, 2013; 23 to 26 expected.
With its new location, no closures are scheduled. For more information, see www.viennafarmersmarket.org.