Farmers Market thanks community

The Arlington Farmers Market held a Harvest Festival on Sept. 25 for one of their last dates of the year to give thanks to the community for its support.

Tractors from local Arlington farms were on display that kids got to climb onto and several games were available for families to stop by and enjoy, in addition to all of the normal produce and art vendors that take part in the local farmers market.

“It’s been going really well. It’s been really fun and the kids doing the activities has been good,” said Diane Krieg, executive director of the Stilly Valley Chamber of Commerce and one of the main organizers of the market.

The event was organized to show appreciation to local families for supporting the farmers market.

“Just as a way of thanking everyone for the year that we’ve had at the farmers market,” said Krieg.

Community member Jamie Stupey said she enjoys the market.

“I think it’s amazing. I think Arlington does a great job,” she said. “I just like the community. It’s a great community to be a part of."

The Harvest Festival event also helped draw in some new people to stop by the market.

“There’s a lot of people that hadn’t been here all year,” said Krieg.

Chris Abad said the Arlington Farmers Market is a bit smaller than the usual farmers market she goes to, but she still enjoyed it.

“It’s our first time here. We just found it on Facebook and we thought we’d check it and it’s really good to be here,” she said. “I like it. There’s a lot of stuff we can get here."

The Arlington Farmers Market has had a strong year and has been able to fill Legion Park many times with vendors and food trucks.

There are four dates remaining for the Arlington Farmers Market this year, with Oct. 2, Oct. 30, Nov. 27 and Dec. 4.

The Oct. 2 date is a makeup for the Sept. 18 cancellation.

“It wasn’t the rain that stopped us, but the wind and the lightning and we didn’t want the tents flying around,” said Krieg.

The other dates are markets that will be open during Arlington’s holiday festivities.

“October will be Halloween and it will be part of all of the downtown Halloween events,” such as the pumpkin roll and costume contest, said Krieg. “The Nov. 27 and Dec. 4 are part of the Hometown Holiday events here as well."