Many people might be new to Some Good Market...so here is its story.
Back in 2012, Some Good Market started in the "event tent" in the front garden of what I call The Compound - nine acres in the woods on Hodgewater Line a little over 5 km from the nearest community of Makinsons, NL. We had a fish pond for the kids, and handful of handmade vendors, a tour which included the chickens and goats, and were open from 10 until 4 to whoever dropped by. We had quite a bit of fun that summer.
Then a decision had to be made. Would Some Good Market actually be a "thing"? With the weather changing as we moved into fall (we actually had a summer that year), I wondered where we could have an indoor event. I had voted in provincial and federal elections in Makinsons at the Community Centre (a converted church) so I headed down to take a look. Makinsons is a local service area not a town with a council so I thought it would be excellent to rent the building on a biweekly basis and at least that way they would have a guarenteed bit of money to pay the heat bill.
Makinsons. Not many people had even heard of it but we had lots of events and workshops for craft. I always wanted to have the vibe of the Anna Templeton Tea & Sale, with a not quite juried craft fair with a tiny bit of farmer's market. I also wanted to have a venue where handmakers of craft could sell their product at a sensible price...aka try to make a living versus "it's just a hobby so I don't need to charge a sensible price for the fruits of my raw materials, skills and time".
The townies (I grew up on Hayward Avenue and spent my summers in the pool at Bannerman and the rest of the year at Bishop Field School so I can talk about townies) wanted to know why SGM wouldn't come to town. So I said fine we'll come to town. And in 2013 we went to town every 6-8 weeks. Our venue? St. Thomas Church Hall aka Canon Wood Hall across the street from Coffee Matters on Military Road. Where I had been a Brownie and a Girl Guide...the toadstool upstairs is very old in case you are wondering. In 2013, SGM ran from February until December.
In 2014, we headed to town a bit more often, lots of vendors and a bit more food. We got our licensing with Service NL for food vendors. SGM filled a niche for the vendors of other markets that didn't run year round, focused on food rather than craft or might have been looking for a less crowded venue, were just starting out or wanted to come out of craft retirement once in a while.
The middle of 2014 also marked a move out of Makinsons to Bay Roberts and a partnership with the Community Food Sharing Association. We had events at the Visitor's Information Pavilion, the Red Fishermans Shed on the heritage walking trail and the Search and Rescue Building. We also had the very first FallPalooza with Roots Country Farm and Bay Roberts during an actual hurricane...there was also a pie competition in which only husband and wife entered! The four months we collected food and cash on the door in lieu of an admission fee the food banks received donations valued at $6124.30.
In 2015, we've rolled with the punches and have continued to support the Community Food Sharing Association setting a goal of $20,000.00. We currently (as of July 11 SGM) have collected $7030.25 of our 2015 goal. Since last year $13,154.55 in food and cash has been collected by the CFSA in town or dropped off to the Helping Hand in Bay Roberts.
Thank you for that!
So this year we had our first event in January and only missed a couple Saturdays (due to other events we need to attend). We will be popping up in even more locations! St. John's once a month. Bay Roberts at either the Search and Rescue Building or Visitor's Information Pavilion. Coley's Point at the St. John the Evangelical Church Hall on Neck Road. Brigus at the Academy Hall. We hope to see you there!
Whether it's the Best Kind Bakeshoppe selling out of hundreds of cupcakes in minutes, new craftspeople selling their first item, smoked meat lovers, carrot cake jam addicts, tourists travelling from all over the world to find us specifically, locals coming with their lists or just to say hello...there have been hundreds of vendors and thousands of visitors over the years...and it's been a blast. We've been on the radio, in the Telegram a couple times, in the Herald, hand delivered hundreds if not thousands of flyers in mailboxes, to shops and onto poles.
If you haven't heard of us till now I'm sorry..we do our best to get the word out but we need to keep costs down.
This has been the short version of the story if you can believe it...but the little market that could keeps going...if you want to be a vendor email somegoodmarket@gmail.com for more info...we have lots of room at our spacious venues year round. If you want to help...tell someone about us by sharing this story, liking us on Facebook (Some Good Market) or following us on Twitter @somegoodmarket or stop by one of our events to say hello.
Thanks for reading to the end...have some good day! (Don't forget your local food bank wherever you are...they always need stuff and summer can be a forgotten time)
I would like to thank my mom and dad especially for all their help and support with SGM. Without them it would never happen.
Thanks to Sam for spending every Saturday at home with our bazillion animals and making signs and whatnot.
Thanks to all the vendors for coming back and the patrons for coming back and my Facebook friends for putting up with all the invites (which won't be stopping any time soon lol )
Thanks to all the communities and groups for renting your buildings and being so agreeable.
Thank you for everyone who has pushed me in a positive and negative way to keep up these sleepless days.
If you can't make it to Some Good Market you can find many vendors at the Winter Market in St. John's from January - May on a monthly basis and at the St. John's Farmer's Market on a weekly basis from June until December (they are also fundraising for their new bigger venue at sjfm.ca with great perks)
