The German Coast Farmers Market (GCFM) announced it would hold a special 20th Anniversary celebration on June 10 at its normally scheduled Saturday East Bank Farmers Market event at the St. Charles Parish Library in Destrehan.
The event, being held at 160 West Campus Drive from 8 AM to 12 PM, will feature local vendors, live music, children’s activities, along with cooking, gardening and beekeeping presentations. Local musician Kyle Labat will be at the event to supply musical entertainment, along with children’s entertainer Cookie the Clown. The St. Charles Parish Art Guild plans to offer children’s activities at the event, including an art project at the Art Guild’s Art Tent. Cooking afficionados may also enjoy stopping by to take a peek at the German cooking demonstrations put on by the LSU AgCenter.
“The cooking demonstrations will feature LSU AgCenter Area Nutrition Agent Rinalda Rocquin, with recipes and samples based on celebrating the German heritage of the area,” GCFM President Ann Montgomery mentioned.
Gardening lessons can be had at the event through River Region Master Gardeners, while a hive observation and beekeeping presentation will be given by local area beekeeper Bee’s Are My Business.
An idea that was initially born out of a German Coast Heritage Project meeting some 20 years ago, the GCFM has remained a way for St. Charles Parish residents to carry on traditions first brought to the local area by early German settlers.
GCFM President Montgomery said that while many people and local organizations have contributed to the 20-year success of the GCFM’s farmers market events, two particular groups have played a vital role in keeping the market open for business over the years.
“The GCFM’s loyal vendors and volunteers are the core of the market today,” Montgomery explained. “The fact that the market is year-round adds to its success.”
The average attendance at each East Bank Market is typically 600 people, while the West Bank Market normally draws around 200 people for each event. Each farmers market event includes wares offered by a variety of area farmers, local cooks and bakers, beekeepers, meat and seafood vendors, master gardeners and craft vendors.
“The GCFM is valuable to our local community because it serves as a community gathering place, tourist destination and a market for a wide range of fresh vegetables, fruits, plants, plate lunches, crafts and other value-added items in the parish of St. Charles,” GCFM President Ann Montgomery said. “The producer-only market proves to be a leader in our area in community food security, sustainable agriculture, and responsible economic development.”
Historians have described early German settlers as being instrumental in saving the New Orleans area from starvation, Montgomery said, supplying produce to the New Orleans French Market and transporting crops up river via barges. The GCFM carries on those early German traditions of supplying fresh produce and wares to locals with each farmers market event, well into the 21st century.
The Saturday, June 10th 20th Anniversary GCFM event is free to the public. For more details on the upcoming event, visit www.germancoastfarmersmarket.org.
Be the first to comment