LAKE CHARLES [AP] — Every Saturday morning at 8 a.m., the stretch of Bilbo Street behind Historic City Hall Arts & Cultural Center comes alive as local vendors set up shop. Folding tables appear. Tents are erected. And the crowds come to buy fresh vegetables, fruits, cakes, breads, candles, jewelry, soap and more at the Charleston Farmers’ Market.
Several vendors, donning red shirts, have been with the farmers’ market since it started in March 2005. Carolyn Smith of Lake Charles is one of them. On a recent Saturday, her booth was stocked full of jellies and canned fruits and vegetables. Business is good, she says.
“We have been really busy. We’ve been so blessed,” she said.
Elaine Thibodeaux is also one of the original members. She chats with visitors at the welcome booth, which sells drinks, coffee, biscuits and other refreshments. Sales from the welcome table help pay the group’s liability insurance at the end of the year.
The Farmer’s Market rents the space it uses every week from the city of Lake Charles. Vendors supply their own tent and tables. Each vendor pays $20 for one Saturday. If they pay for a month in advance, the rate drops to $15 a Saturday. The group uses these fees to buy advertising.
If it rains, the market moves into the first floor of Historic City Hall.
Long-time vendor Nelson Winn once had a bakery in Iowa. These days, he bakes the cakes, breads and pizza he sells at his booth. He also offers jewelry and soaps.
Dianne Bagwell is busy at Mr. Howard’s tent, where business is brisk. Mr. Howard is Howard Bagwell, Dianne’s husband.
“He’s the cook,” says Dianne, as she sells her husband’s pickles, salsa, chow-chow, figs, hot sauce, breakfast burritos and pecan candy.
On this particular Saturday, the youngest vendors are four teenage boys selling fresh produce from Young Bucks Farm in Sulphur.
The boys’ farming careers kicked off this summer when Sterling Hartley’s grandfather, Ted Garner, offered his 15-year-old grandson the use of some of his land over the summer if the teen would farm it. Sterling accepted the challenge. He joined forces with pals Hunter Burleson, 15, Clark Miller, 17, and Caleb Miller, 15, all of Sulphur, to form Young Bucks Farm.
They boys grew basil, okra, cucumbers, squash, eggplant, banana peppers and swiss chard, among other things. Their booth at the farmer’s market is a busy place. It is their third Saturday to sell the fresh produce they’ve grown. They are making good money, they said.
Family members add to their booth’s offerings. One of the moms baked bread for them to sell. Sterling’s little sister made peanut brittle.
For baked bread vendor Cassie Jones and her daughters Priscilla, 18, and Celia, 16, it is their first time selling at the farmers’ market. Cassie says she did the baking and her daughters are doing the selling. Cassie calls her bread, made with raw sugar and home-ground wheat, “artisan” bread.
As for the customers, many, like Burt Aven of Sulphur, can’t get enough of the farmers’ market.
“I’ve come here every Saturday since I found out about it,” he said.
The Charleston Farmers’ Market even has an unofficial mascot — a dog named Brandy.
“She’s our greeter, like at Wal-Mart,” said Brandy’s owner, vendor Fran Chaisson of Longville. “She goes up to everyone and tells them hello.”
