As the City of Shafter prepares for its final First Friday of the summer, 23ABC speaks with community members about how the event series went and what they hope to see in the future.
- Earlier this summer, the City of Shafter announced a new calendar of events featuring First Fridays and Farmers Markets.
- 23ABC spoke with Ronda Martin from Gladragg's and Brandi Root from the Shafter Recreation and Park District to get their thoughts on how the series went. From both of their unique perspectives, it was a successful experiment and they hope to see it return in the future.
- Shafter Community Services Director, David Franz said the city is happy to see the community's interest in the events and they look forward to garnering input from area businesses to see how the city can improve on it for next year.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
As we head into the tail end of summer, the 'Summer Fun Series' here in Shafter is winding down, a series of first Friday and Farmers' Market events put on by the city for the community. Talking to those who have lived in Shafter for years, and been involved in what makes the events tick, it's been a success.
Ronda Martin works alongside her Mother at Gladraggs, a furniture store in downtown Shafter with over 35 years of history. She said at first, she wasn't sure how the events would go, but now several months and many events later, she says it's been a success in her eyes, for how many new people it's drawn to Shafter and local businesses in the area.
"I shop down there myself every Saturday morning and I would meet a lot of people that I wouldn't have before. We brought our fliers down and our business cards down and people didn't even realize we were here," said Martin. "We did see somewhat of an increase and it was always nice to meet new people and see new faces."
Brandi Root, with the Shafter Rec and Parks district, has been around the community for years and helps put on the fun zone hosted by the district each first Friday, and mirrored Martin's sentiment, adding she hopes to see it expand in the future.
"Everybody is looking forward to them, we're just waiting for when the next first Friday is, when the next farmers' market is, I know my family -- my entire family comes out and makes sure they come to the farmers' market and the first Friday's. It's something for the whole family to enjoy," said Root.
In an email to 23ABC, Shafter's community Services director David Franz said the Sity was happy to see how the community has bought into the event series and:
"The City Council is invested in downtown and wants to see our local businesses thrive. The next step for us as a staff is to listen to our business owners on how we can work together to learn from this summer and build on it next year."
Friday marks the last scheduled first Friday event of the year however, the Shafter Farmers' Market will continue to roll on the second Saturday of each month until the end of the year.
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