<div>Michele Ruxer, Messenger-Inquirer, Owensboro, Ky.Ghosts, goblins and ghouls headed out to the Owensboro Regional Farmers’ Market on Saturday morning for a special Halloween market event. Attendees were encouraged to wear Halloween costumes, participate in a costume parade and participate in Halloween activities hosted by the market. Vendors were also encouraged to pass out candy for trick-or-treaters.“It’s been a great morning,” said farmers’ market manager Mary Beth Alexander.This is Alexander’s second season as the market manager and she said that she’s impressed with how the season has gone as the season comes to a close with only a final holiday market left for next Saturday.“We’ve got about 30 guest vendors signed up for next Saturday, along with about 30 of our regular vendors, so we should have a lot of holiday-themed items available for purchase,” she said.Alexander said that this morning’s costume parade was fun and that she was impressed with the turnout.“A crew from Meadowlands even came out to perform their Addams Family routine which was fun and great to watch,” Alexander said.Alexander also mentioned that the Kentucky Double Dollars program has had a successful season at the market. The program allows individuals and families who receive funds from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to use that money on fresh produce and items from the market.“The Double Dollars program will take the SNAP funds and double them up to $20 for those who are shopping,” Alexander explained. “So, if they spend $20 in SNAP benefits, they will get $40 total to spend at the market.”Alexander said that from May 1 to Sept. 30, the program has served 281 customers and provided $7,500 in funds for them to use at the market.“It really is a win-win situation for everyone. Shoppers get extra money to spend on fresh meat and produce and then our farmers also benefit from the sales of the products,” she said.Alexander also mentioned that the market received a $2,500 grant from the Horn Foundation to help with providing nutrition vouchers to low-income individuals and families.“That grant money allowed us to help so many more people in our community, and we’re so thankful for that,” she said.Other members of the community are also thankful for the farmers’ market.Annie Sharp and Courtney Haaff said that they are regular customers at the market with their children and that they are thankful to have the market to share with their kids.“I like that today it’s not so busy so I can let the kids walk by themselves and not have to worry so much about them,” Haaff said.Sharp said that she’s thankful that the market provides local fresh food for the community.“It’s nice to be able to know where our food is coming from,” she said. “And we’re getting great fresh food to feed to our families. Plus, the organizers think of accommodating the kids with activities like trick-or-treating.”Heather Tague said that she lives close to the market so she’ll walk over with her toddler in his wagon to enjoy time with him.“We come pretty much every weekend just to have something fun to do,” she said.Tague said that she was taking her son out to Halloween events today because she has to work on Halloween night.“I wanted him to get to experience some of the trick-or-treating events in the community since I have to work on Halloween night,” she explained.Even the vendors, such as regular market merchant Keith Riney of West Louisville’s Riney Farms, were enjoying watching the kids in costumes trick-or-treating and grabbing candy. Riney had broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and turnips still available for purchase this late in the season.“We’re really winding down as far as having much fresh produce available, so this market was really more about coming out to have fun and enjoying the atmosphere at the market,” Riney said.Riney thought that today’s crowd was one of the larger Halloween market crowds that he had seen in his time as a market vendor.Melissa Childers with Front Porch Gardening had taken a few months off from setting up at the market since she sees the majority of her business in the spring, but she decided to set up her booth for today’s Halloween market. Front Porch Gardening sells houseplants, a range of embroidered items and vegan salves currently, but Childers said that her most popular products are the seedling plants which she starts in small containers.“I start the seedlings in small containers for people that don’t have a lot of space to garden,” she explained. “It’s a way for me to encourage gardening for everyone because I understand the space constraints since I live in town.”Childers started embroidering the grow bags she used for seedlings and then decided to continue that on items such as tote bags.“This is just a side project to help keep me sane after working my full-time job. I use my brain a lot for work, so I wanted to balance that with a hobby that involved my hands to find balance,” she said.She said her most popular item at the Halloween market has been the vegan salves since “everyone seems to suffering from dry skin this time of year.”Caleb Chapman and Christina Wilson, owners of Fire in the Hole Pepper Company, also decided to set up at today’s market.“It’s been slower-paced and more kid-focused this morning which has been a fun experience,” Wilson said.Chapman explained that he turned his hobby and love of hot and spicy peppers into a business because he thought it would be nice to share his passion with the community. Fire in the Hole Pepper Company offers a wide variety and selection of assorted hot peppers and pepper jam for market shoppers.“I’d love to experiment more and get into products like hot honey, seasonings and even hot sauce,” Chapman said.His love for spicy food began when a close Vietnamese friend took him out for some Thai food and introduced him to “really spicy food.”“I hadn’t really had anything like it and I was hooked,” Chapman said.Wilson said that she sees Chapman’s passion for the business and has just been at his side to help and support him.“And I love that we’ve been able to make friends here at the market,” she said. “We really are all like a family here.”Alexander encourages everyone to come out to next Saturday’s holiday market which will conclude the 2024 market season.The market will be open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 2, at the 1205 Triplett St. location, complete with close to 60 different vendors showcasing holiday-themed items and products.More information about the holiday market can be found under the Holiday Market event on Facebook.</div>

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Farmers' Market celebrates Halloween on Saturday morning

Michele Ruxer, Messenger-Inquirer, Owensboro, Ky. Ghosts, goblins and ghouls headed out to the Owensboro Regional Farmers’ Market on Saturday morning for a special Halloween market event. Attendees were encouraged to wear Halloween costumes, participate in a costume parade and participate in Halloween activities hosted by the market. Vendors were also encouraged to pass out candy for trick-or-treaters.