News & Updates

Market Sponsorship Opportunities

In anticipation of a very promising season and some exciting possibilities for growth, this year we’re offering a brand new sponsorship opportunity for the Emerson-Garfield Farmers’ Market.

The three-tiered market sponsorship will showcase the logo for your business or organization on a prominent 10′ × 10′ professionally printed canopy wall at the central market booth. This booth is where everyone comes to swipe their credit cards, ask questions, chat and browse the informational literature, so it’s seen by plenty of folks.

Speaking of being seen, the market itself is moving to a much more visible location on North Monroe, which will lead to even more people noticing your logo and saying to themselves, “By gum, I’m going to patronize that business or organization.”

You’ll also get plenty of shout-outs on our social media.

There are a total of nine spots available in three different but very affordable tiers. They are:

Tier 1: Blue ribbon – For $200, your logo shares eye-catching top billing on the sponsor wall. You’ll also have the opportunity to supply us with plenty of take-home literature (e.g., business cards, flyers, brochures), which will remain on display at the booth’s info table throughout the season. Two spots available. All spoken for. Thanks, Rogue Heart Media and Gene Brake of Keller Williams Realty!

Tier 2: Grower – For just $100, your logo gets a central full-season spot on the sponsor wall. Not quite as large as the ones above, not quite as modest as the ones below. Plus your business cards will be displayed on the info table. Three spots available. All spoken for. Thanks to Annie Doyon, realtor at Synergy PropertiesDiamonds in the Ruff, and Boulevard Mercantile

Tier 3: Sower – For a mere $50, your logo will be displayed on the sponsor wall all season long at a size that says, “Grandiosity isn’t our thing, but you definitely should still check us out.” Four spots available. All spoken for. Thanks to Bellwether Brewing, Heather Schelling, real estate broker at Prime Real Estate Group, Lil’ Bit of Top Knot Grooming, and Prohibition Gastropub

Take a look at the accompanying image for a visual guide to how the logos will be sized and arranged.

So what’s all this money going to be used for? Glad you asked!

As we prepare to launch our 2016 season at a new site, we’ve encountered a couple of extra expenditures. The first of these is a replacement ($300) for the central market canopy; the frame was bent during one of the gustier days last summer.

We’re also looking to upgrade from our antiquated, wobbly card table to a proper event-style table ($100) for displaying and distributing flyers, brochures, recipe cards and other market- or community-related info.

Lastly, our previously free service contract with our payment processor expired, so we’ve had to cough up an annual service fee ($100) and take out a data plan with Verizon (cost still TBD). This crucial point-of-sale service is what allows us to take credit, debit and EBT cards.

These sponsorship funds will cover the cost of this equipment and services and leave enough left over for the costs of printing posters and flyers at R&R Color on North Monroe (they give us excellent pricing, but it adds up).

With all that in mind, if you’re interested in supporting this community-oriented market and benefitting from the promotion through one of these affordable sponsorship tiers, please send us an e-mail or give us a call at 389-0964.

Market Poster Contest Winners for 2016

The winners of this year’s Emerson-Garfield Farmers’ Market poster contest are Madison Whitmarsh (grade 3) and Brynn Hooper (grade 2), both of Garfield Elementary.

Typically we pick one winner from each participating school, but, sadly, Audubon Elementary submitted no entries this year. Fortunately, the strong showing from Garfield Elementary even led to an honorable mention for the first time: Sarah Banuelos. Our judges really liked her colorful vendor couple.

Madison and Brynn will each receive $15 in tokens to spend at the opening market on Friday, June 10. Their fully credited drawings will also be used for the print posters and handbills we use to promote the market throughout the season.

Many, many thanks to every student who entered a drawing. We really appreciate your participation.

Next year the contest returns to Trinity Catholic School and Spokane Public Montessori. Get your crayons and markers ready!

Market Poster Contest 2016

Parents of students at Audubon and Garfield Elementary,  please take note!

The Emerson-Garfield Farmers’ Market is holding its third annual poster contest for students in neighborhood schools. Audubon Elementary and Garfield Elementary are the schools that have been invited to take part this year. A notice should have been distributed in the students’ Monday folders about two weeks ago.

Students in grades 1–6 at these schools are asked to design a poster for the upcoming 2016 market season.

The poster should:

  • be in color on white 8.5″ x 11″ (US letter-sized) paper; portrait or landscape style are both acceptable
  • contain the title: Emerson-Garfield Farmers’ Market — please make sure it’s properly spelled and punctuated!
  • illustrate the theme “community farmers market

The deadline is FridayMay 6. Two winning entries — one from each school — will be selected and announced by Monday, May 9. Students are asked to submit only one (1) entry per individual.

The winning entries will printed as posters and flyers. They will be hung throughout the neighborhood and around Spokane prior to and during the 2016 market season to help promote the market. They will also be posted on the market’s and/or Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood’s blog, Twitter and Facebook accounts.

The two winners and their parent(s) or guardian will be asked to be present at the opening market on Friday, June 10 to be acknowledged in person. They will each receive a similar amount ($15 each) of tokens to be spent at the market.

More info about the Emerson-Garfield Farmers’ Market is available here on this website or on our Facebook page.

Students can check with their school office to see where they should submit your entries.

As always, we look forward to seeing what you create!

Our Market Is Moving!

The Emerson-Garfield Farmers’ Market is moving! Starting this season (which begins on June 10, by the way), you can find us in the parking lot of the Adult Education Center located at 2310 North Monroe.

This is amazing news for a number of reasons:

  • The market is now more visible and centrally located along North Monroe.
  • The new location is right next to the stop for the #24 bus line and the only lighted crosswalk on North Monroe.
  • We’ll have a perfect basis for collaboration with the Community Colleges of Spokane.
  • There will be even more room for vendors, music, activities and parking.
  • It’s only two blocks from the former site, so it remains just as accessible to our existing patrons.

The market day and times—that is, every Friday from 3-7pm—are unchanged.

The folks at the Adult Education Center and Community Colleges of Spokane who helped make this happen in incredibly short order deserve a huge thanks. We’re looking forward to working with them further.

We confess to leaving the parking lot of Knox Presbyterian with a heavy heart. They’ve been ideal hosts for the past three years — and they were unique in recognizing the mutually beneficial potential of our community-oriented farmers market from the very beginning. We still intend to honor their early involvement with waived vendor fees for Knox congregants. And we’re also working on ways to make sure that Korean food from Spokane Hope CRC, which shares the Knox building, is still available on select market dates.

In the meantime, please help spread the word by sharing this post far and wide! We worked our tails off for years to encourage people to seek out the market in the Knox lot, and now we’ve got to make sure all our loyal patrons are ready to move with us.

Vendors, Remember to Reapply for FMNP

We’d like to remind all our produce vendors that all growers’ contracts for the WIC & Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) expired as of December.

If you want to accept FMNP vouchers for the 2016 season, you must reapply.

The returning grower’s application must be postmarked by April 1 to be considered; new vendors have until July 1. The Grower Application and Contract Agreement are available in English and Spanish from the following website:

http://www.doh.wa.gov/YouandYourFamily/WIC/FarmersMarket

Once you’ve filled it out, please mail your completed application to:

WA State Dept. of Health
WIC Farmers Market Nutrition Program
PO Box 47886
Olympia, WA 98504-7886

FMNP benefits our patrons, our market and growers like you, so please don’t delay your application.