2016-04-13 - Farmer's Market Committee - Minutes Farmers Market Meeting Minutes 4-13-16
In attendance: Paulette Greenberg Chuck Posniak Andrew Stein
Larry King Ed Muldoon
Lea Pinshower Peggy Starczowski
Not in attendance: Tess Baker, Fein Russell, Mickey Katz, Jackie Beegun, Elizabeth
Glazer, Jeff Berman
Meeting called to order at 7.00 pm.
1)Paulette discussed possible promotional items/giveaways for the 2016 market. She
brought pages of stick-on tattoos for children with a vegetable/fruit theme, a copy of a
children's recipe book, and sheets of vegetable themed stickers. The cost of the stickers is
$7.00 for 200 and the cost of the tattoos is $32.95 for 200. Committee agreed to rule out
the recipe books due to their high cost, and that the recipe books appeared to be more of a
teaching tool for educators. Chuck said he would look for cheaper stick-on tattoos on the
Internet.
Committee members agreed that though the tattoos would cost more than the stickers,
that the tattoos held greater appeal for children at the market, and is a more novel idea.
2) Vendors Update: Chuck and Peggy provided updates regarding possible new vendors,
confirmed vendors who will be returning and vendors who will not be back.
The following vendors will not be returning to the market: Farm Fresh, Great Harvest
Bread, Holcomb Hollow, Presto Pesto, and Toasty Cheese. Chuck passed out the list of
confirmed returning vendors from the past year. Committee agreed we would welcome
another bread vendor; Chuck said he approached the Great Harvest franchise store in
Evanston, and they expressed interest in attending the market. Chuck said he has not
heard anything further from the Artisanal bread vendor.
Peggy said the Cheese People indicated they would be returning to our market but have
not yet returned their application. She passed out a list of applications she has received
that includes three new vendors. These vendors are Lindy's Gourmet cookies (a variety
of cookies), Aspiring Kitchen (vegan sauces, veggie dips, smoked fish and frozen fish)
and My Fave Place (Hawaiian Shaved Ice/slushy's/brain freeze). Peggy has contacted
Aspiring Kitchen and is waiting for more information to determine if he meets health
standards for our market. The committee agreed that having a fish vendor would be a
welcome addition to the market pending further information.
The committee agreed to approve Lindy's Gourmet Cookies. My Fave Place was
approved with the caveat that they cannot sell shaved ice on market dates when Carlos is
at the market, as Carlos sells snow cones. My Fave Place is applying to appear 10 out of
the 17 weeks of the market.
The committee approved the following applications from returning vendors:
Callie Cupcakes
Klug
Madsen Farms
Apple Holler(will restrict their selling individual donuts)
North Shore Pet Chef
Nana's Rum Cakes
River Valley Ranch
Hardin Farms
Twin Gardens
Chuck and Paulette have identified a possible new vendor who sells wine cooler mixes in
powdered form. Paulette said she has sampled this and that it is very good. Peggy said
that this vendor does not have a liquor license so would not be able to provide samples
with wine, but could use juice instead for samples. There was some discussion of whether
this would compromise the appeal to market customers.
Paulette said she came upon a Pancake Food Truck(breakfast sandwiches). She said she
has not heard back from him but committee agreed this would be a good fit for our
market.
Lea presented a proposal received from Fern. Fern indicated that she had attended a
"wine and nibbles" tasting which she thinks would be a fun activity at our market. This
woman does not sell anything but holds wine tasting events in homes or at parties. Peggy
said that this provider would have to hold a liquor license and must sell the wine in its
original package, in order to appear at our market. As a result, Peggy said having a"wine
and nibbles" event at the market would not be an option.
Peggy suggested that we approach the Purple Sprout, a vegan restaurant that has opened
in Wheeling, to participate in our market. The restaurant does cooking demos and offers
samples. Committee agreed this would be an interesting idea. Paulette said she would ask
Fern to contact the Purple Sprout.
3)Non-profits: Larry said he would start reaching out to non-profits. Vernon Library is
already scheduled. Just as last year, only four non-profits will be allowed per market, and
non-profits cannot appear more than five times in a season. This includes politicians.
4)Promotions/Facebook: Ed has been approved for a$600 budget for Facebook. Ed said
he plans to explore other media options as well, such as Twitter. Ed said he plans to
research how many people view the Facebook Market page on their desktop computers
vs. mobile devices. He said the most viewed day/time is Saturday night. Ed reported that
the primary demographic for viewers is age 30' s-50.
Ed noted that he and Paulette met with Melanie Santostephano of Vicarious Productions,
who is doing Public Relations for the Village. Ms. Santostephano requested sample
pictures from the market and a 300-word paragraph about the market, which Ed has
provided. She is working on the Village E-news and the Village Facebook page.
5) Misc: Ed reported that Josiah would be returning this summer to help with set-up and
takedown.
Peggy said that she learned of a 5K-walk/run fundraiser, which is scheduled from 8:30-
noon on June 12th, the first day of the Farmers Market. The event will be held at the
Skate Park and will include music. It is expected that this fundraiser could draw 500-700
people. There is concern that participants in this fundraiser, as well as event organizers
will park in the lots used by Farmers Market patrons. As we know, parking is already at a
premium on busy market days. Peggy indicated that those attending the fundraiser would
be directed to park by the Golf Dome and by the baseball field. The committee requested
more parking signs for our Farmers Market and agreed that committee members may
need to monitor the parking areas utilized by our market patrons, as much as possible, the
morning of this event.
The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, May 9th at 7 PM at Village Hall.
The meeting adjourned at 8:00 pm.