First off, on behalf of the vendors and everyone involved with the Market I would like to thank everyone who came out and braved the rain at our opening day last Sunday. It was great seeing so many familiar faces again. And, believe it or not, it sounds like sales actually exceeded expectations. Most vendors who I spoke with were ecstatic at the turn out notwithstanding the weather. As you can see in the cover photo, even the dogs came prepared in their raincoats.

 

This week I thought I would give our loyal readers a glimpse into the inner workings of the Market. Each week one of the BFM board members takes a turn managing things. Opening week saw my wife, Debbie, running things with your friendly, neighborhood blogger as her grunt labor. So, I hope you’ll indulge me as I present A Day in the Life of the Market grunt. Here goes:

 

7:45 a.m: Arrive at Market truck and drive truck to Market site. One thought on mind: Coffee.

 

7:55 a.m: No coffee yet. Begin setting up BFM Information tent, table, etc. Move onto setting up Master Gardener’s tent and table. Still no coffee…

 

8:10 a.m: New vendor, Sam Bonasso of Quantum Bean Coffee arrives! Quickly get him placed so he can setup and start brewing. I can practically smell the coffee…

 

8:20 a.m: Drop off Musician’s tent, POP tent, and Chef’s Demo tent for later setup. Don’t forget the extension cord and sponsor banners! Darn, almost forgot our U-shaped tent weights. Wouldn’t want to have to carry those across the parking lot later, stupid things are both rusty and heavy.

 

8:25 a,m: I can now truly smell the coffee brewing. Place my order for a selection of Sam’s coffee; Guatemalan, Rwandan, and Costa Rican…one each, please, black.

 

8:30 a.m: Move onto the biggest setup job, the dining tents. This consists of getting four tents, four tables, thirty-two folding chairs, eight tent weights, sponsor banners, and garbage cans off the truck and placed in the dining hub. As I begin this task the rain begins, lightly.

 

8:45 a.m: I hear my name called from across the parking lot. It’s Sam! Coffee is ready. And, holy cow, that stuff is good! And Hi-Test. Now ready to finish the dining area.

 

8:55 a.m: Rain picks up in intensity as I finish up the dining tents. Take a short break under a tent to wait out the rain.

 

9 a.m: Cody Thrasher arrives with his Hash Browns and New Grounds food truck. Guide him into parking spot and shoot the breeze for a few minutes.

 

9:10 a.m: Break over, no let up in rain. Move truck out of Market area.

 

9:15 a.m: Guatemalan finished, move onto Rwandan. Beginning to come out of morning stupor. Rain won’t stop.

 

9:20 a.m: Begin setup of Musicians tent. Run power to our new auxiliary power panel provided by the good folks from the Bridgeport Conference Center. This was an off-season idea that will help us keep the concourse from being littered with extension cords.

 

9:30 a.m: Move onto setting up the new POP tent. POP stands for Power of Produce and is the Market’s new kid’s program. Athena Freedlander, our POP coordinator, will be taking over the Let’s Get Fresh blog next week to fill us all in on this exciting new venture.

 

9:40 a.m: Setup the Chef’s Demo area. Part of this includes setting up and testing our wireless mic system that the Chefs use during their demos. Chef Tim Goots arrives to deliver his equipment. Rwandan finished, next up, Costa Rican.

 

9:45 a.m to 9:55 a.m: Place traffic cones, walk area to double-check everything, greet vendors and make sure they have everything they need. Fill doggie water bowls. Test power. Help musician, Rus Reppert, unload and setup gear.

 

10 a.m! Opening bell, or, as in our case, opening triangle. Since I was a percussion major in college the honors are all mine. I bang that thing for all it’s worth! I’m told I play a mean “muted” triangle…

 

At this point customers are already filling the concourses and lining up at the food vendors’ tents. As the rain has now hit its peak I make my way to the Info tent and ride it out.

 

10:15 a.m: Rain just won’t stop. Board member and amateur Joe DiNardo, Josh Halstead arrives to tell us this is the last of the rain and the sky is all clear beyond this last gasp…yeah, right.

 

10:20 a.m: Sick of rain, out of coffee, I make my way back to Sam’s tent and order one each of his other three coffees, Mexican, Columbian, and another type from Guatemala. From there it’s onto Chef Emmy’s WV 00Bagel tent to check out the offerings. I end up ordering one of each, Sriracha Bagel with a smear of pimento cheese and fresh greens from the Market, a Roasted Garlic Bagel with ham and egg, and an Onion Bagel with pesto and shaved parmesan. That’s my middle name, Oneofeach.

 

10:30 a.m: Back at Info tent with my coffee and bagel booty. Share with the wife and daughter (you didn’t think I was going to eat and drink all that myself, did you?). My favorites: the first Guatemalan coffee (Antigua Acate, I come to find out) and the Sriracha Bagel.

 

11 a.m: Breakfast finished, decide to check things out at the POP tent. Lots of kids already lined up there. Looks like fun! Run into old friend walking across the Market with one of Cody Thrasher’s offerings, the Gnocchi Mac n Cheese with pepperoni. Make mental note for later.

 

11:15 a.m: Amped up on Hi-Test coffee…rain hits it’s heaviest of the day. So much for our Market weatherman…Silently curse Josh Halstead…lol.

 

11:30 a.m: Suddenly remember from last season that Cody would run out of his most popular items early. Make mad dash for food truck and order the mac n cheese….that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Run into Candy Klimek at the food truck wearing the t-shirt she won at my band’s CD release party. Have to get picture for FB page.

 

11:35 a.m: Find out from Cody, no worries this year on running out of things. I order mac n cheese anyway…

 

11:45 a.m: Can’t decide which I like better, the gnocchi mac n cheese or the pepperoni. Wait, I just tried them both together…oh, my, sheer bliss.

 

11:55 a.m: At Chef’s Demo tent helping Chef Tim get set up. Wire him up with the headset mic. He’s always afraid it’s going to mess up his hair.

 

Noon: Hang out and watch Tim’s demo. A pasta dish with lots of good stuff in it. Wait until Tim finishes and scarf a sample.

 

12:30 p.m: Finally rain starts to slack off, sun starting to take over the sky. Remember the braised short rib tacos I saw being made earlier at the Bridgeport Conference Center tent. Not quite there yet. Stop by and swap tales with Chef Bear. Oh, and buy a bowl as a present for some good friends. Go by the Gardner Farms tent and admire their new Sprinter van with the freezers in the back. Pretty, pretty good.

 

12:45 p.m: It’s now beginning to get hot. Not complaining, at least the tents will be dried out by the time we tear down and load up. Happen to go by the Conference Center tent and hear something calling my name…it’s the short rib tacos! They’re saying, “Bob, eat us, please.” I oblige. Yowzers, those things are delish!

 

1 p.m: One hour to tear down time. I decide to dry out my poor, wet feet. End up sunning myself at BFM beach.

 

1:15 p.m: Time for some dessert. Earlier I reserved a cup of Key Lime ice cream at the My Little Cupcake tent. Today is the debut of their new line of ice creams and they don’t disappoint. I take mine under the dining tents and rest up for the load up. Mmm, chunks of graham cracker crust mixed in.

 

1:40 p.m: Stop by one of our new vendors’ tents, Health Nuts Fruit and Veggie Smoothies, for a sample. This is Rus Reppert and Kaycee Rinehart’s new venture. Some people just can’t be good at only one thing. I’d like to see him make a smoothie at the same time he’s playing Going to California on the guitar…LOL!

 

2 p.m: Ring the closing triangle, tear everything down that I set up in the first two hours. Get help from some of the Conference Center guys, Thanks! Load it all up and head for home.

 

3 p.m: Home, Couch, Out.

 

If this sounds like a way you might like to spend the odd Sunday shoot us an e-mail at the address below. Seriously, it’s all fun and you get to hang out with a bunch of really cool people. And the grub ain’t bad either.

 

Until next week, Stay Fresh!

 

The Bridgeport Farmers Market Association is the seven member all volunteer board of directors that governs the Bridgeport Farmers Market. It is supported by a wonderful group of community volunteers who help in the setup and maintenance of the market. For more information on the Farmers Market or to see how you can help please e-mail us at bridgeportfarmersmarket@yahoo.comor, better yet, LIKE us on Facebook and follow us on both Twitter and Instagram. You can also check out the Market’s own YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/BridgeportFarmersMktor for more BFM video content you can now go to http://vimeo.com/bridgeportfarmersmarket/videos

Go here to see all of the entries in the Let’s Get Fresh blog: http://tinyurl.com/kdv4mhl