Hatatouille, August 2011

The Ada Village Farmers' Market held a vendor-created hat contest this summer to bring attention to the market and the products offered, and for a bit of fun.

Of the 40 or so vendors, 23 took part in the contest, most of whom are pictured here:

The contest originally was to be called "HatPrize" but the ArtPrize

people took exception. Apparently they have a lock on any name that

ends in "Prize."  So take care out there when you're naming your

contest if you want to avoid legal entanglements :(

You may be asking what the motivation might be for a vendor to take the time to

create and wear a funny hat. Other than a little publicity and fun, having next year's

vendor fee waived for the winner was good enough for the 23 participants.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The only hat-creation requirement was that it be inspired by the product(s) sold

by the vendor. Creativity ranged wildly, with one hat holding no evident

relation to its product to one that was too big to wear.

Market customers voted on August 2, and the winners were announced

the next week. Here are the honorable mentions:

Two vendors tied for second place, organics back to back:

And the grand prize went to Crane Dance Farm, whose musical, moving

hat was a runaway winner.  (The hat on the left is the El Gran Sombrero trophy :)

The market continues through September 27, on Tuesdays noon to 6:00 PM, 

and promises to return next year with great vendors and more hats!

Ada Farmer's Market, June 2011

Forest Hills Community Expo, Grand Rapids - 3/16/10

This was the fifth annual expo and once again it was a great success, at least as it pertains to attendance. Held in the two gymnasiums of Ada Christian School, the event was sponsored by the Ada, Cascade, and East Paris business associations, and the vendors present were mainly drawn from those groups.

Our booth space for The Community, a church of socially-responsible, community-active members, was shared with the Farmers’ Market, sponsored by the Ada Downtown Development. Together with the Farmer’s Market and Ada Township, a children’s gardening program will begin this summer that will coincide with the successful Farmer’s Market, held on The Community’s property in Ada.

But back to the Expo: as one attendee put it, “it’s trick or treating for adults”. Although there’s a special “kids’ room”, the main purpose is to give exposure to local businesses and provide personal customer contact, and yes, attendees get free stuff. It’s a cornucopia of give-aways, ranging from lip gloss, funeral-home consulting, glasses cleaner, body wraps (you will lose 10 pounds in 45 minutes, being pitched by a woman with too much body fat to prove her point), banks, insurance & investment companies, car wash coupons, dry cleaners (25% off whatever you can fit in the give-away bag), bread, pizza, ice cream, soup, plastic firemen hats from the fire department - I could go on ad infinitum. Pens are ubiquitous and I picked up a few of those along with golf tees from an accounting firm.

It’s great fun to meet local business owners and take home a few treasures. How much they benefit from the exposure is for them to measure, and is probably difficult. So long as the booth cost is not prohibitive, it’s probably a worthwhile investment. And fyi, the Farmers’ Market in Ada begins mid-June and will continue through the end of September. The market is a beautiful sight to behold and will be enhanced by the children’s garden booth and additional vendors - shop local!