New location helps Farmer's Market thrive

The second season of the "Fresh On Fridays" Sisters Farmer's Market came to a close on Friday with a lavish, mouth-watering "Farm to Table" community supper supplied by the attending food vendors.

This year the market moved to a more central downtown location in Barclay Park, and the refreshing spot in the shady pocket-park seemed to reinvigorate the weekly event to new heights of success.

Following the regular market, organizer and board member Janet Zuelke and a team of volunteers hauled out the tables and chairs and set up an outdoor community dining hall for a fun, family-style celebratory meal. The incredible feast included homemade tamales, salads, fresh fruits, artisan breads and cheeses, pies, cookies, and beer and wine. World beat music was provided by Chiringa as the revelers sampled dishes with full forks.

"It's been a fabulous season," said Zuelke. "The customers are happy, the vendors are happy and the board is happy. We had a huge surge of vendors coming on at the end who definitely want to come on board again next year. We'll start out with at least 25 vendors, farmers and bakers, which is amazing. A huge thanks to the City of Sisters for working with us and making this happen. They were incredibly generous and cooperative."

Over 75 friends and market supporters sat down at sunset to break bread with Zuelke and the rest of the "Fresh On Fridays" board members consisting of Rebecca Sokol, Jan McGowan, and P.J. Hunter.

Zuelke raised a toast to her happy dinner guests and voiced her appreciation for the strong support.

"Without these amazing vendors there would be no market," she said. "I had a dream last night about working on a farm and wow, you guys work so hard.

"All the breads came from The Village Baker and Sparrow Bakery, fresh greens from Rainshadow Farms, Oregon wines from Ancient Cellars, beer from Three Creeks Brewing and more seasonal food coming from other people's farms all over the area. I'm already so excited for next year. We sincerely hope to be back in Barclay Park and may extend the hours and the length of season but we'll wait to talk it over and decide later."