If you didn’t get there early, you didn’t get a parking spot. Unless you were lucky enough to pull in to the downtown area in Oakdale on Saturday just as someone else was leaving.
The opening day for Oakdale’s popular Morning Market on Saturday, May 2 saw a huge crowd turn out, with sunshine and nearly picture-perfect weather part of the attraction. But even more than the early May temperatures, it was the wide variety of fresh fruit and vegetable vendors, entertainment, specialty merchandise, artists and musicians, and a kids area with fun crafts for the younger set, that brought people to North Third Avenue.
Some vendors, in fact, were sold out well before the 11 a.m. shut down time, determining they need to bring more product out the next time.
The Oakdale Morning Market will run every Saturday from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. now through Sept. 26.
As a project of Love Oakdale, organizers were pleased with the fact that everyone attending Saturday’s opening day seemed to be loving the opportunity to meet up with friends and neighbors, enjoy some samples and take home those unique finds.
“We’re very excited,” Ripon resident Allie Giles admitted of being able to return to Oakdale for the Saturday market. “We like to come every week.”
She was overseeing son Duke, 8, and daughter Frankie, 3, as they enjoyed some fruit samples. For Duke, he explained his favorite part of the market by holding up a cherry, then quickly eating it.
“The samples,” mom Allie said, chuckling. “They love the samples.”
Over at the kids zone, hosted for opening day by House of Tykes Preschool, young Krew Larson, 5, was busy playing with shaving cream, which had been colored with food coloring, with the consistency perfect for sculpting.
Older sister Wren, 8, said she was having fun at the crafts area as well and enjoying the morning.
“I just like seeing all the people from our community out together,” mom Haley Larson said.
The family, from Oakdale, will be a frequent visitor to the market, Larson added.
There are several rotating vendors so each week offers up something different, though there are also regulars that set up shop on a weekly basis.
More information about upcoming musicians, artists and special features of the Oakdale Morning Market are available online. Visit the website at oakdalemorningmarket.com for weekly updates.
