Poplar Head Farmers Market: Fun for the entire family

Agriculture, art and education will join forces this summer as the Wiregrass community welcomes the opening of the Poplar Head Farmers Market.

The Downtown Group, the Wiregrass Museum of Art, the Houston-Love Memorial Library and Wiregrass farmers and artisans will join forces every Saturday morning in June and July to present a unique shopping and educational opportunity for area residents.

The focus of the market is, obviously, agriculture. Fresh fruits and vegetables will be in plentiful supply. Sixteen area growers have committed to take part in this inaugural event.
The market will be open from 8 a.m. until noon.

In addition to the market, two downtown restaurants, the Blue Moon Café and Mildred’s Restaurant and Tea Room will offer their specialities for purchase on Museum Avenue.

Organizers say this event will be a fun-filled affair for all members of the family - both young and young at heart. Deidre Frith, public relations coordinator for the Wiregrass Museum of Art, believes it is important for the museum to be a part of the event.

“Our focus at the museum is education year-round,” Mrs. Frith said. “We feel this event is a perfect endeavor for the museum to take part in. We believe it is important to support the downtown region and to support our area farmers.”

She also sees it as an opportunity to focus on agriculture as an art form.

“The roots of this region are in agriculture,” Mrs. Frith said. “The Poplar Head Farmers Market affords us the opportunity to tie art and agriculture together. Normally, we hold a First Saturday family event at the museum on the first Saturday of the month. With our partnership in this event, we’re bringing the First Saturday concept outside to the museum’s Sculpture Garden. And we will be here every Saturday to help the children create agricultural art.”

Frith says this Saturday’s event will feature a bee project in keeping with the fact that the Wiregrass Beekeepers Association will be the featured entertainment at 10 a.m. at Poplar Head Park.

“We will use egg cartons to make the project right here,” Mrs. Frith said. “When the children are finished, they can leave with their agricultural art along with the agricultural produce that their parents purchased at the farmers market.”

She noted all projects are age-related.

In addition to art, children who visit the Poplar Head Farmers Market will have the opportunity to see and hear the debut of 23 books related to agriculture.

The books were donated to the Houston -Love Memorial Library by the Women’s Committee of the Houston County Farmers Federation. At the conclusion of the farmers market, the books will become part of the permanent collection in the Children’s Department of the library and will be available for circulation.

A member of the library staff and a volunteer with the Friends of the Library will hold reading sessions on the grounds of the museum from 9:30-11:30 a.m. On selected Saturdays the library’s bookmobile will also be on site. Bring your library card if you wish to select books to read.

“I’m looking forward to debuting the books at the Poplar Head Farmers Market,” said Kristin North, library for the Children’s Department. “In addition to these new selections, we will also have farm fact books for the younger children and fun activities for the older kids. Tattoos will also be given out.

“All of this was made possible by the Houston County Farmers Federation.”

Mrs. North sees the partnership with the Poplar Head Farmers Market as a perfect opportunity for the library to take part in a community event.

“First of all, this is an opportunity to educate the children about produce and agriculture in this area,” Mrs. North said. “We also want to make people aware of what is going on at the library. We have a lot of activities that take place at the library. This is a wonderful opportunity for us to get the word out about such things as our “Be Creative at Your Library” program that is held in June and July.”

Registration for this program begins June 8. It is open to pre-schoolers through sixth graders for the 2009-2010 school year. A valid library card is needed to participate.

A number of free activities have also been scheduled for the program’s participants.

Entertainment will be provided at Poplar Head Park each Saturday at 10 a.m. Julie Bishop, market director, has scheduled the Wiregrass Beekeepers Association for the opening of the market this Saturday.

“Ros Horton, past president of Wiregrass Beekeepers Association and currently serving as board member of the State of Alabama Beekeepers Association, will present a fun, interactive children’s program about bees and their value,” Mrs. Bishop noted in a press release. “Children will learn to do the ‘bee dance.’ State Apiary Inspector Randy Hamaan will follow with a beekeeping demonstration to educate the public on the value of honey as food and the importance of honey bees as pollinators of plants. He will have publications available and answer questions on beekeeping.”