By Justin Aufdermauer
Executive Director
Summer is fast approaching and that means our busy season with events like the June Dairy Parade, Cork & Brew and of course the Tillamook Farmers Market every Saturday starting June 15th.
To kick off the beginning of the market season, we are again partnering with Pacific Restaurant to host a family-friendly Cinco De Mayo party with live music, an authentic Mexican buffet prepared by the master chefs of Pacific Restaurant, raffle prizes and even some cool games.
Tickets are only $20 and kids under 12 get in free. All proceeds will benefit the programs offered at the Tillamook Farmers Market, including our SNAP match, an expanded kids activities section this year, the community table for local non-profits and of course the great lineup of live music.
Speaking of live music, Dante Zapata will be performing for Cinco De Mayo, and if you had a chance to catch him at the Tillamook Farmers Market last year you know you’re in for a real treat. Dante is a real crowd pleaser and we’re excited to have him back for both the Cinco De Mayo celebration and performing at the Market later in the season.
Tickets for our Cinco De Mayo party are $20 per person over the age of 12, and can be purchased on Eventbrite.com (you can find the link on the Chamber’s Facebook page). We are limiting the number of tickets to 200 people, so get yours early as we might not have any left to sell at the door.
We’re very excited to grow the programs offered at the Market this year, and continue to build on the concept of creating a community gathering space where people come on a Saturday for produce, shopping, and entertainment. Our music line up is bringing back several favorites from last year, including the Buffalo Kitty Band, MetalMantra, Bryan Nichols of ZuhG and Jazzatti-tude. We offer live music from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. each day in the Market center.
We’re also expanding our SNAP match program this year to offer more choices for shoppers with an Oregon Trail Card. Look for signs at Market booths indicating where those dollars can be spent, and as always come to the Market Trailer HQ to ask questions and exchange your SNAP dollars for tokens you can spend with eligible vendors.
Again this year we are bringing back the Food Hero Program, a partnership with OSU Extension where kids can try a new fruit or veggie and participate in an educational, health-focused activity. Kids who participate each week will receive a $2 “Kid’s Buck” voucher, courtesy of TLC Fibre Credit Union that they can purchase fresh fruits and vegetables with from our local vendors. In addition to food tastings, children also get to participate in fun activities like scavenger hunts in collaboration with OSU Master Gardeners and local farmers, and the ever-popular blender bike.
We are also creating an additional space specifically for kids with fun activities like rock painting, fruit and vegetable stamping, seed planting, scavenger hunts and more. Each Saturday this will be a spot where kids can stay entertained and find hands-on things to do and take something home with them.
And of course, the Master Recyclers will be on hand once a month demonstrating how to make reusable grocery bags out of on-hand materials like chicken feed bags. The Master Gardeners will also be back several times throughout the season offering gardening advice and answering questions.
We hope to see you at the Market this year, and consider joining us on May 5th to help support our Market program during a night of great food and entertainment at Pacific Restuarnat.