Mossyrock Public Market Opens Opportunities

Local residents and summer tourists will soon be able to enjoy an open-air shopping experience every Saturday, from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend (and now extended through Sept. 29th), in downtown Mossyrock. Vendors will be selling fruits and vegetables, baked goods, processed foods, arts and crafts, plants and nursery items, and other unique products.

Community participants in the Horizons program, in association with the East Lewis Chamber of Commerce, are coordinating the new market, which will be open every Saturday from May 26 to September 29 from 10 AM to 4 PM at the corner of State and Williams Streets in Mossyrock, next to the Auto Value store. More than a dozen community volunteers have been preparing for the market for the past several months, after coming up with the idea at a Horizons Community Action Forum.

“I think this is a great opportunity for the people of the community to network and meet each other and do a variety of fun, volunteer work,” Mossyrock high school teacher Wendy Gardner said of her involvement to help prepare for the Market.

Sharon Debuhr of Debuhr Sewing and Design in Cinebar remarked that “It’s a great way for an entrepreneur to launch a new business.”

“I’m looking forward to having the market close to home, so we can sell hot, fresh batches of bread,” remarked Jackie Morris, bread baker at Pan y Pastel Artisan Bakery, who also participates in the Chehalis Farmers Market on Tuesdays. Local berry farmer and nurseryman Glenn Aldrich is also excited about the new business opportunity. “It’s a real nice way to get some new businesses in town,” he said.

Aldrich is one of several in-kind market sponsors and has donated planter boxes and plants to decorate the market entrance. Mossyrock Auto Value is donating the space for the market. A growing list of charter sponsors includes the Mossyrock Grange, Silver Creek Ice, Smith and Sons Grocery, Nick Nichols Enterprises, Debra's Cut and Boutique, Neighborhood Deli, Mossyrock True Value Hardware, and Riffe Lake Campground. Student volunteers at Onalaska High School have been helping to create promotional materials for the market.

The Market is charging vendors only a very minimal fee for each 10 foot by 10 foot booth space and expects to have a wide mix of items for sale including food, produce, and handmade items. All products must be grown or made in Washington and only new items will be sold. The Market is making special outreach efforts to the area’s growing Hispanic community, and has created flyers and vendor application forms in Spanish, available at the Chamber office (118 State St., Mossyrock) or online at the market website, http://www.mossyrockpublicmarket.com/.

The Mossyrock Public Market is a project created by residents from Mossyrock, Salkum, Silver Creek, and Cinebar who are participating in the 18-month Horizons program, a community leadership program to move from poverty to prosperity and create a more thriving community. Horizons is funded by the Northwest Area Foundation, delivered in Washington by WSU Extension, and coordinated locally by the East Lewis County Chamber of Commerce.

For more information visit http://www.mossyrockpublicmarket.com/ or call 360-983-3778.

If you'd like to be a vendor, call the vendor coordinator, Sharon Debuhr, at 360-985-0907.