Miami Student

Issue date: 4/27/07 Section: Community

Residents Hedwig Dodds and her mom purchase lettuce from vendor Harv Roehling during the Oxford Farmers Market Uptown last September.

This summer, the Oxford Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD) is joining forces with a local tradition for the first time to host special events in an effort to bring community and freshness to the same table.

All to be located in the Uptown Park, OPRD will host special events during the Oxford Farmers Market Uptown (OFMU) every third Saturday of the month. Beginning in May and running through September, the OPRD events will run from 10 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. as a part of the Saturdays at the Market program.

Additionally, located in the parking lot at the corner of Main and High streets across from the Uptown Park, the annual OFMU will kick off its summer season May 5. OFMU will operate from 7:30 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. every Saturday beginning in May through October, said OFMU Market Manager Larry Slocum.

OFMU will also have Tuesday Mini-Markets during those months, which will operate from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m.

"It's a natural partnership because you're going towards the same goals," said Derek Greene, TRI Community Center special events coordinator from OPRD. "It's all about building a sense of community and providing citizens with things to do during the summer."

The OPRD program will include educational and tasting events - such as tomato tasting - food preservation demonstrations, as well as a bread-and-spread, where visitors taste breads and jams produced locally, Greene said.

Saturdays at the Market will kick off May 19 with a children's gardening program, which will bring in knowledgeable community members to teach children and their families the process of producing food like those sold at the farmers market, Greene said.

According to Suzie Marcum, a member of the farmers market council, the opening day of the summer farmers market will include a petting zoo as well as a performance by the Oxford Drum and Gourd Ensemble.

Visitors can also expect live music, cooking contests and demonstrations from local chefs scheduled sporadically throughout the months the farmers market operates, Slocum said.

With the theme of cultivating community, Slocum said the

farmers market becomes a social gathering, bringing community members together to talk to farmers, buy goods and spend time together.

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