Page's Farmer's Market deemeed a success

The popular attraction will be back next summer

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All good things must come to an end. Luckily, for us, it’s only for a season.

The end of October annually illustrates itself with fleeting pictures of parents and children alike in their costumes making their way down Date Street. This year, October reluctantly said farewell to Page’s new favorite addition: the Farmer’s Market.

From May to October Page’s Farmer’s Market displayed the fruits, vegetables and gourds and honey of small-town farming labor and now takes a bow after its first successful season.

Page Chamber director and organizer for the market, Judy Franz, had endless pleasantries to share regarding the ensemble of local affairs. A Saturday morning driveby, on the way through or out of town, could be characterized by the bright colors of local produce, fine arts and most importantly; the people of Page. The panorama of vendors offered goods ranging from native fruits and vegetables to handmade goods.

Farmers Markets spanning the United States share their whimsical, free-browsing experience of home-grown commodities with a friendly flare. However, unlike many other metropolitan Farmers Markets, Page offers the subtle victory of the fact that the desert mesa lends us crops at all. Underlining every purchase are the spent hands of your neighbors and the glittering authenticity of your trade of choice.

Page is known neither for its produce, nor its good soil, nor its farmers market. The community is proud to say this year has changed that supposition. This community event is demonstrative of the fact that good work bears good fruits. In a story of progress harkening to the founding of this town, the rocky deserts of northern Arizona have sprouted a town born from early civic projects which later spurred the development of hospitality, tourism, recreation and finally micro-agriculture. Most evidently, the Saturday experience offered a niche to Page locals unfulfilled by any produce alternative.

The Farmer’s Market proposes to reclaim its ground in the John C. Page Park nearing the beginning of May of 2018. In the conclusive words of Franz, “It was such a great success. I wouldn’t change a thing. We hope to open much sooner the next time around; but I wouldn’t change a thing; just more people sharing their crafts.”