09/28/2023
***** NO MARKET ON 09/28/23*****
Hi Folks!
Ron here with the Cherokee Street Farmers Market. We wanted to update you folks that have been visiting our farmers market located at the Tractor Supply parking lot in Wagoner.
First, we want to say a big thank you to everyone that visited our market this season, we really appreciate you giving our market a try this year! We would also like to say thank you to the vendors who showed up for each of our markets, we appreciate you more than you could ever know!
Secondly, we want to announce that we have made a decision to close the market about thirty days early this season, as we had planned to have the market open through the month of October. However, since the very public discourse between some of the downtown businesses, an event planner and the City Council has spilled over into the broad public view via social media and local news outlets, three of our vendors have expressed that they do not wish to return to Wagoner to participate in the remaining farmers market dates. So we have made the decision to cancel any remaining dates for the 2023 season.
On a personal note, I want to say this. I hope the Downtown Wagoner businesses, the Wagoner City Council and the event planner that is at the heart of this current issue find a way to work together to reconcile your differences. Sure, you have every right to disagree and even make some noise to get heard, but at what cost? The three vendors that I mentioned here are indicative of what will most likely occur for the City of Wagoner in the future, if these types of issues are not handled in a much different manner. All three of the vendors I referenced here are members of local Facebook Groups, seen the posts, and the reaction and statements of some of the more vocal members of our community. Sadly, what they took away from reading those posts is that Wagoner does not want outside small businesses to sell their products here, and they simply do not want to take a chance with our community not supporting them. So, what happens when a business that you really want here, reads posts on social media to take a measure of a community’s interest, and see what we all have witnessed over the past two weeks, which leads them to decide to pass over our community? People read the posts that you create on local groups, and like it or not, social media is not only a place to express your opinions, it can be a place that expressing those opinions can help or hinder the growth of a community. I have lived in or around Wagoner for most of my life. I love this community, I love the history of the city and I think the Wagoner area is the best place on Earth. That said, I know Wagoner is better and can do better than this, but that is all up to the folks that live and work in this community, so please, for our community and our future, get this reconciled and do better!
This is very personal to me, because of the many, many hours that I invested in getting a market up and running in Wagoner this season, working with the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, USDA and Oklahoma Local Agriculture Collaborative, and other organizations to set the framework for a market that is more than just a bake sale. I understand the hard work and countless hours that go into the production process of the items that are brought to a farmers market and my loyalty as a market manager will always be to those farmers, ranchers, home bakers and others who are doing their part to make food options available at the farmers markets I manage or am a part of managing. So, I ask you to support those vendors when we reopen the farmers market in the 2024 season, with a different name and location. The folks that show up at the farmers market will be excited to once again see you there in 2024!
