Holiday Market 2009: It Takes A Village...

It's been a great season so far at Holiday Market. Word on the street, or rather in the aisles, is that folks are selling well and our friends and neighbors and fellow Planeteers are indeed buying local, and enjoying themselves doing it!

We have a saying in the Market office (well, many, but this is the pertinent one), "It takes a village to make a Market." Every person at Market, from the three of us in the office, to all the Saturday workers, to the Market artisans and musicians, to the Market visitors to make this place what it is. Everybody, even the freshest baby on its first Market visit, has an essential part to play any Market day. It takes us all to manifest the creative energetic whirl of life and spirit that makes the place feel like the essential center of the Universe. My sincerest thanks to everyone who has played their part this and every season.

Here is our annual family portrait, taken last Sunday morning by Michael Omogrosso. If you click through you'll end up at Flickr where you can click again for a nice big version. This is our village at its Sunday morning finest. It was Wild Wild West day, so you'll see plenty of western hats, and even a stuffed stick pony up front. This is a fraction of the folks who make up the Market family, but it's a good representation!

We have five more Market days to go - Saturday & Sunday, then Tuesday through Thursday. Stop by the village and take part if you can. Have a happy and safe holiday season! See you there...

Saturday Market Was Blessed to Know Papa Soul

Papa Soul played with his musical partner Jason Johnson last Saturday, on our final outdoor Market. As usual, he was a ray of sunshine on stage and off, joking about freezing because he was the only person in Eugene wearing shorts on such a chilly day, and then playing his heart out as he always did. Then on Wednesday he died from a heart attack.

They were planning on playing opening day of Holiday Market, this Saturday, and I was planning on enjoying every minute of it, and all the energy their music brought to the room as usual. Instead I'll happily remember last Saturday, and the 100% pure love light and joy that poured out of Papa Soul through his music.

Have a safe journey, Papa Soul. Know you brought a whole lot of happiness into our Market family!

Saturday Market #32: Whatever Gets You Through The Day

Here are a few of the things I have in my personal make-it-through-November-Saturdays tool kit. Don't get me wrong, I love all Market days. For a November day, this one wasn't too bad. It was sunny and nearly warmish until 1, and it was only raining torrentially for an hour or so, and we got to load out during a nice break in the storm. But still, they can drag on when you haven't thought about putting your rain coat on over your down coat when you go out to siphon the rain from the roof and your coat suddenly stops being warm and starts being heavy and wet. d'oh!


The Magic Life Saving Elixir - Dana's hot chocolate WITH whipped cream,


smiling, sympathetic Market friends and family - Rona, Roya and Nadia from the Afghani booth in this particular case,


food!! like pad thai from Bangkok Grill for instance,


a little plastic (gotta keep it dry somehow),


and some good old fashioned rock and roll to keep the blood circulating at the end of the day - Big Roy & The Twigs style.

Many thanks to all who were there with me - you helped me make it through!

One more Saturday on the beautiful Park Blocks, and then on to Holiday Market!!

Saturday Market #31: Halloween!

I love when Halloween and Market fall on the same day! I know when I show up in costume, I won't be alone. And there will be really creative costumes. This year the day was damp, but that did not deter hardy marketeers from showing up in style. You can see the whole collection of costumed folks on the flickr stream, meanwhile, here are a few of my favorites:


An awesome impromptu costume at Dana's Cheesecake, made from coffee filters, straws, a paper plate and masking tape. Tada! Instant Coffee Fairy!


Our favorite never-miss-a-market customer Chris showed up as a Lab Rat.


Glenn Kreiss is impersonating an out of work politician, I believe.


I love Kirk's Kirk costume! So authentic...


Kimberly is both Alien Visitor and Fashion Astronaut. Just about every other day of the year, she wears white.


And super bonus points to Susurri, the band, for showing up in the rain in clever delightful costumes. I loved love loved the music. It was funny to watch them play this gorgeous textural indie-folk/pop in those costumes. Catch them if you have a chance!

Two more Saturdays in the great outdoors to go. Stop by when you can!

Saturday Market #30: Loving the Light

The afternoon light is always beautiful on the Park Blocks, but I love it best in October. Is it because I know it's getting rare? Or the steep angle? Or the extra drama it adds to photos? All of the above, no doubt.


Todd Kelly's jumble of corked jars caught my eye.


The glow of the tent and the leaves was irresistable.


I loved the light on Sue Theolass' velvet bags and their twisty strings.


And I especially love the glow that it gives the edges of everybody and everything.


Whoever gets the stage left side of the stage at the end of the day gets the best dramatic lighting - in this case David G. with People's Choice.


And it lights up the booths across the street.

I think we might be missing the sun a bit tomorrow, but we have Halloween costumes to make up for it! Next week I bet you'll be seeing the best of Market costumes!

Saturday Market #29: If You Advertise "Rain or Shine"...

Then you've probably got to live up to the "rain" side every once in a while. Fortunately, we only really lived it for an hour or so, and the cold hasn't settled in yet. The hour it did rain, though, hoo boy did it come on down! By the end of the day it was sunny and pretty once again. You can pop over and see photos on the Flickr stream if you like.

I'm much more excited about this! Previews for you of the Holiday Market posters. I sent them to the printers today, with any luck we'll have them next week. Now that the world of printing has gone all digital, it's perfectly reasonable to print two versions. So I can satisfy those who love to look at groovy people, and those who love to look at cool stuff. If you'd like to look closer, click on the photos and you'll go to the Flickr stream, where bigger versions live.





Phew! It's always a relief to have them out the door and out of my fussy hands so I can't move individual stars around any more. Now to anxiously await the results... Good thing I've got a Market to spend the day at tomorrow, the weather looks like it will be perfect. See you there!

Saturday Market #28: In Two Places At Once

Once October rolls around, I really do have the sense of being at two jobs simultaneously. October is when I need to get Holiday Market ads and promo stuff up and running, while keeping the regular Market ads and promo stuff running as well. Even Saturdays have that sense, as I'm running the stage and trying to run around between set changes and grab the photos I need.

Here's a sneak preview of the centerpiece of this year's poster, a gorgeous, whimsical necklace by Angela Lees, made of an antique drawer pull and an antique doll house bird cage. I got goosebumps the first time I saw it. I also wore it for a little while on Saturday while we were filming the Holiday Market commercials. Way fun to wear!


I also got out and took some pictures of Marketeers to use. I always have fun with this part of the project, and some great conversations. Terry McIlrath used to sell at Market way back in the mid-seventies, spent years selling successfully elsewhere, and just started selling at Market again this year. We talked about amazing it is that Eugene has a place where young people learn that it's possible to make money from making art.


And Jon King and I chatted about how amazing the weather was and who knows what else.


All in all, a beautiful, busy Saturday. Looks like we may not be as blessed by the weather this week, but that won't stop us! By the way, there's a Market Wide Sale on Saturday, so stop by and see what great deals you can find!