Farmers market entices buyers with produce giveaway
Photo by Alison James
Franklin County Farmers Market manager Gary Stanford, left, presents Thomas Riley with all the produce he won from the drawing last week.
Tomatoes, corn, beans, watermelons, cucumbers, potatoes and home-canned slaw – all went free to the lucky winner of the first Franklin County Farmers Market drawing.
With every purchase from any farmer during last week, customers were given a slip to enter the drawing. Some patrons wound up with several entries before the week was out. Market manager Gary Stanford said he came up with the idea as a way to attract more traffic to the market, and he thinks it worked.
Russellville resident Thomas Riley won the table full of produce, and he said he was pleased to be the winning recipient. He visits the market often, particularly “when my tomatoes run out. I generally come at least once a week, but I’ve been known to come (more often). Every time my wife says, ‘We need this,’ I go. You get to buy things that are locally-grown, and that’s a nice thing.”
Farmers donated all the produce for the giveaway.
Stanford said they hope to do a giveaway every other Friday. In addition to drawing more customers, Stanford said he hopes the contest will be a draw for more farmers to set up and sell.
