Community Farmers' Market of Owen County: A Dream Comes True

One of my favorite songs is "Happy Talk" from the musical South Pacific. I love the lyrics: "You've got to have a dream. If you don't have a dream, how you gonna have a dream come true?"

As we all know, when a dream comes true, it's cause for celebration, congratulations, and gratitude. Emotions that Gwen Dieter, Market Master, and her Steering Committee members will certainly feel on Saturday, May 3 as they declare the Community Farmers' Market of Owen County open for its first day of business.

The market took nearly a year of planning and hard work by the community members whose vision was to "to provide local producers, and their neighbors a gathering place that fosters the connection between our food, our culture, our land and our environment". In June 2007, forty people attended the first organization meeting where they were asked to "share thoughts and ideas toward making the dream of a local farmers' market a reality for Owen County". The project was enthusiastically supported and spearheaded by the Owen County Soil & Water Conservation District.

In September, a Steering Committee was formed. The Steering Committee members included Rachel Beyer, Laurie-Ann Curry, Ron Dieter, Vickie Haskins, Denise Jenkins, Ed O'Brien, Patty Steward, Steve Worland, and Aaron Zeis. Resource advisors to the Committee included Mark Rogers (Owen County Community Foundation), Mark Evans (Purdue Cooperative Extension), Dave Haskins (Organic Farmer), Nancy Sparks (Farm Bureau Insurance), John Fuhs(Attorney), and Gwen Dieter (Owen County Soil and Water Conservation District). The Committee worked through the winter months to secure funding for the market and to develop the market's infrastructure and guidelines.

When the market opens this coming Saturday, it will feature locally produced foods and crafts all of which must be produced or grown within a 100 mile radius of Spencer, Indiana. Gwen is anticipating a great turn out. "The time is right for this," she recently told me. "We're so excited! Everyone has worked so hard to make this vision a reality for the community."

Congratulations and thank you to Gwen and everyone who put their time, energy, and hearts into establishing this new Indiana farmers' market. Here's to a great opening day and a long and successful future!

Comments

[Andrea]

Just an update. We are in our 2nd year at the Community Farmers' Market of Owen County. Things are going great. If you are in the Spencer area on Saturdays from 8-12noon please stop by and join us. You can also check us out on the web at www.farmersmarketowencounty.com and on facebook and twitter.