Tracy Fox, marketing coordinator for the Culver Farmers’ Market, and Don Fox
CULVER WINTER FARMERS’ MARKET RETURNS TO CULVER-UNION TOWNSHIP PUBLIC LIBRARY Writer / Angela Cornell Photographer / Jubilee Edgell
Picture this: It’s the third Saturday in January and it’s snowing. Again. It’s been frigid all week and you’re suffering from a severe case of cabin fever. To make matters worse, that beef you were planning on cooking for supper mysteriously disappeared. Then you realize your salvation is at hand because the Culver Winter Farmers’ Market is today. Five minutes later, you’re walking out the door with a smile on your face.
The market is held on the ground level of the Culver-Union Township Public Library. Despite Jack Frost’s bluster, the atmosphere inside the library is positively sunny, especially since everyone is smiling and chatting with each other. There’s a vast array of products - microgreens and other fresh produce, locallyraised meats, baked goods of all types, locally-made crafts, high-end silversmith and other custom jewelry, hand-crafted wood products, custom services, soaps and artisan chocolates.
This is only the second season of the winter market, but its success has already been astronomical. When Chad Gard, market manager, considered starting a wintertime market he spoke with Tracy Fox, marketing coordinator for the Culver Farmers’ Market. Once she was on board, they found a spot for it and spoke to potential vendors. “I thought it would take years to really ramp up into anything of much value, but that first season the biggest struggle I had was trying to figure out how to fit everyone in the room,” Gard says.
36 / THE LAKES MAGAZINE / JANUARY 2020 / thelakesmagazine.com