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West Palm Beach GreenMarket: A Community Icon That’s Gained National Recognition · Inside West Palm Beach

0:15
Welcome to the City Center podcast.
0:17
I'm Jerry Marcelo for over 28 years.
0:20
The West Palm Beach Green Market has been a community landmark and a popular place for people to gather.
0:27
It is an event where residents and visitors alike could come together to eat,
0:32
drink,
0:33
buy local produce and enjoy the best weather of the year.
0:37
The green market has a long and fascinating history with a humble beginning in the city hall parking lot back in 1995.
0:45
Now,
0:46
over 500 weekends later,
0:48
the vendors booth filled city's downtown waterfront.
0:52
It has garnered more than four dozen awards over its history including best farmers market in the US by USA.
0:59
Today's 10 best readers poll.
1:02
What makes the West Palm Beach Green market such an enduring landmark?
1:06
How did it stay strong in the face of challenges like COVID-19?
1:11
What does the future hold for the green market and what you can do to keep its title as the best farmers market in the US?
1:19
Joining me today is Mary,
1:21
marketing,
1:21
community events manager for the city Parks and recreation department.
1:25
Mary,
1:26
welcome.
1:28
Hello,
1:28
how are you today?
1:29
I am fantastic.
1:30
You and the green market have been closely connected for a very long time.
1:34
Tell us about that.
1:35
A very long time.
1:37
Indeed true.
1:38
So,
1:39
let's see.
1:39
We'll go back to almost 29 years ago.
1:44
Then Mayor Nancy Graham,
1:46
she had a vision,
1:47
she had many,
1:48
many visions for this city as you are probably aware.
1:52
And one was she had been to um markets in other countries and around the United States farmers markets and recognized their importance and um value in terms of reenergizing areas,
2:09
particularly downtown.
2:11
And if you can recall back that far,
2:13
our downtown was not what it is today.
2:17
So she came to us and she wanted to start a farmers' market and she had a couple of community people that were assisting.
2:27
One was a former mayor,
2:29
Dave's wife Darden Daves.
2:31
She was going to help and there was a vision to start this.
2:35
Not a lot of time,
2:37
not a lot of resources.
2:38
We had never done a green market.
2:40
We'd never produced a green market before.
2:43
Like,
2:43
OK,
2:43
we're going to produce a,
2:44
a green market.
2:46
Nobody did.
2:46
There weren't any locally,
2:48
this was,
2:49
this was going to be a first because again,
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she also liked to be the first at something which we appreciated.
2:54
So she said,
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you know,
2:57
I,
2:57
I want to start this,
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we're gonna do it.
2:59
We'll start it in.
3:00
I,
3:00
I think we started in September that year was actually not October,
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which we found to be too hot later in in time.
3:07
And October was a better time to start and,
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uh,
3:11
we didn't have a lot of time.
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I think we might have had 4 to 6 weeks.
3:15
We ordered pretty umbrellas that were intense that we put up very colorfully.
3:20
And it was around the old,
3:21
the plan was around the old city Hall,
3:24
which is over where the Ben is now.
3:27
And,
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um,
3:29
you know,
3:29
we tried very hard to get a lot of vendors and we weren't really happy,
3:35
but we were pleased that we had 13.
3:37
The first Saturday had 13 vendors.
3:40
We said lucky 13,
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not a one of which was a farmer.
3:44
We couldn't,
3:45
we,
3:46
we,
3:46
we just,
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it was a brand new idea and people were not beating down the path.
3:52
Ok.
3:52
So you had a farmers' market with no farmers,
3:55
no pros.
3:55
What did you do?
3:56
Well,
3:56
we did what we had to do.
3:58
We went to the store and bought out all the produce.
4:03
That is funny and the display was fabulous.
4:06
We made an absolutely fabulous display.
4:08
Uh,
4:08
we were honest about it.
4:10
We were starting something new and it was,
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if you could say grass roots,
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it was,
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it was truly a grassroots effort.
4:18
So here we are,
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we're in the old City Hall parking lot,
4:22
which was not pretty.
4:24
It was not pretty.
4:25
Um,
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it did not have waterfront viewer appeal.
4:30
We had 13 vendors.
4:31
It was September.
4:32
It was hot.
4:34
We had really pretty tense.
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And we had,
4:37
we had some people there.
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They were,
4:38
they were interested,
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they were excited.
4:40
We had a little bit of,
4:41
I believe we had some live music and that was the start.
4:44
And so you,
4:45
you had to start and it was a good start because you guys decided to do it again.
4:49
The next year we did it the next week actually.
4:53
Ok.
4:53
Yeah,
4:53
of course,
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we grow it.
4:55
We did,
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we grow,
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we accomplished,
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we,
4:57
we continued to grow it every week.
4:59
We picked up,
5:00
we actually picked up some farmers.
5:02
So we didn't go back to the grocery store.
5:04
Um,
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word of mouth spread and people came out and vendors came out.
5:10
So you did indeed get more and more vendors.
5:13
And we're gonna be talking about some of the interesting challenges you had with vendors as we go forward.
5:18
But uh you started to grow and you said you had music.
5:21
What at what point did you actually outgrow that little parking lot?
5:26
Yeah.
5:27
Well,
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we were somewhere around 60 vendors and that was,
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you know,
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because it's not just about where you place the vendors,
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it's how you load them in and load them out as well.
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Um And the downtown was continuing to get busier and busier as because of things like this,
5:44
right?
5:44
Because of,
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of efforts to bring people down.
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We were getting busier and um then mayor uh Lois Frankel,
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Lois Frankel was the mayor at the time she of course,
5:56
had her vision um along with the community to transform reimagine the whole downtown West Palm Beach waterfront.
6:03
And we really feel like,
6:04
well,
6:05
this is our opening here in community events because we have a beautiful venue.
6:10
You know,
6:10
there,
6:11
there aren't many places that I've traveled to,
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that have the charm of a little town with the beauty of the waterfront that we have and then the the business opportunities of a big city like this.
6:25
So we said,
6:26
ok,
6:27
well,
6:27
this is our opportunity to get in what,
6:30
what we need there.
6:31
And by opening up that area where the the former city library was at to the waterfront,
6:38
it was always known that that was gonna be the home.
6:41
So we did have to wait,
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we had to wait until the waterfront was,
6:45
was done.
6:45
So we were kind of,
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you know,
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stuck at that number of vendors for a while until the waterfront was completed.
6:51
And then it was like,
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you know,
6:53
Hallelujah,
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the the sun had risen as far as where we,
6:57
where we were able to move to.
6:59
You touched on something that was really interesting,
7:01
which was,
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and,
7:02
and,
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and I think for people who are new to the area,
7:05
they don't understand that.
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Back in the day,
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back in the late nineties,
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uh downtown was struggling.
7:11
It was a place where people did not go to.
7:14
And,
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and I guess the green market was something that was designed to start bringing people and getting them used to coming down on a weekly basis and much to the benefit of me.
7:23
And the division that I'm in uh Nancy believed in events,
7:27
she believed in the power of bringing not just one type of person or type of people,
7:33
one group,
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she believed the power of bringing all different types of communities together and what that would mean and,
7:40
and creating community because that's why we're the community events division.
7:44
If you create community,
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then you really do create your city.
7:48
It would,
7:49
it makes it's a very important part about building a successful city is making everyone feel like they belong there.
7:57
And events are,
7:58
you know,
7:59
an attractive way to do that.
8:01
So the green market Clematis by night started the same way.
8:04
There was nobody down here at five o'clock,
8:07
you know,
8:07
you could throw a bowling ball down Cleta Street and not hit any anybody.
8:11
It was the truth.
8:12
And by bringing people down,
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people felt safe.
8:16
Businesses wanted to be here,
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things opened up.
8:19
Um So what we do can be very powerful.
8:23
Yeah.
8:24
Well,
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I mean,
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we're now to a point where the green market is such a landmark,
8:30
is such a expected event,
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especially during our,
8:33
our high season here that you see just droves and droves of people showing up,
8:39
talk a little bit about the kind of people who come to the green market.
8:42
We see a wide spectrum of folks,
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everybody comes to the green market from everywhere,
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from throughout Palm Beach County,
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from beyond Palm Beach County,
8:51
from the people that live in the strand and the esplanade from young people from,
8:57
from families with little kids to senior citizens that the beauty of it is.
9:03
You see that and you know,
9:05
it takes a pretty darn good event,
9:08
I have to say to draw everybody to it because usually you've got a type of music and it attracts this age or that or whatever.
9:16
But there's something about all those small businesses out there with their,
9:22
their great food and their great products that attract everybody.
9:27
And it's a hangout.
9:28
People come,
9:28
they don't just come to shop,
9:30
they come to meet their friends,
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they bring their family,
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the strollers,
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we laugh because there's an area under one of the trees,
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stroller,
9:36
like,
9:38
because it's right.
9:39
So all the families head there and,
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you know,
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then you've got the,
9:42
the 20 year olds that hang out over here,
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but everybody's,
9:46
everybody's,
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um,
9:49
enjoying themselves.
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And the vendors are doing very,
9:51
very well.
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It's a fantastic spectrum of folks and of course,
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there's all the,
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all the dogs and all the pets that show up,
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which is like another tradition.
9:58
Really?
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That's the very dog show every Saturday.
10:00
Now,
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did I remember that the West Palm Beach Green Market was the very first green market in the county.
10:06
Is that correct?
10:06
As far as I know?
10:08
Yes,
10:08
I wasn't aware of any other unless there was something maybe inside,
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you know,
10:13
they had,
10:14
maybe somebody had something inside but it was the first,
10:18
um,
10:18
green market,
10:19
I believe that was an event green market.
10:22
And now you see a whole handful springing up across and so I guess imitation,
10:26
you know,
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green.
10:28
Yeah,
10:28
that's right.
10:29
You know,
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so that's you,
10:31
we've talked about the vendors and the vendors are critical and the quality of the vendors are stellar.
10:36
Um,
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you go through quite a process to select vendors.
10:39
Tell us a little bit about that.
10:40
We do.
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Um,
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it is quite a,
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it's quite a interesting process.
10:45
We just went through it recently.
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We had,
10:47
I wanna say 247 applicants,
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um,
10:51
qualified because you have to sell something that fits into one of the categories.
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We have nine different categories that we select from.
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Um,
11:00
and so it's 247 went through the process.
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It's almost like Shark Tank,
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the Show,
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Shark Tank.
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We have judges,
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not city employees,
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they're,
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um,
11:11
experts in the field.
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They're,
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they're caterers,
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they're ex event experts,
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uh,
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merchandizing experts.
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We have 3 to 5 judges and everybody gets a date and a time over the course of three times based on the category that they're applying for.
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And they come in and they have two minutes and they bring samples if it's a food product or whatever for the judges and they do their spiel and,
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um,
11:38
then we roll the card out and we roll the next one and it's,
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it's,
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uh,
11:42
and then the judges score them and then that's how we,
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you know,
11:46
well,
11:46
obviously you've really picked some really great vendors over the years.
11:50
Is,
11:50
is there a,
11:51
is there a style of vendor that you're really looking that fits what we do here?
11:56
You know,
11:56
we'll always take farmers and growers until what do we say the cows come home.
12:01
I don't know,
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you know,
12:02
like the goal is to have as much of that and,
12:05
and we'll,
12:05
we'll always be any,
12:07
always seeking more farmer growers.
12:09
Um And then the other categories,
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you know,
12:13
it's,
12:13
it's taking the best that come in.
12:16
We get a lot of cafe vendors but we don't have um as many of those types of vendors because we have,
12:21
we have restaurants on the street,
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you know,
12:25
uh gourmet processed foods because everybody wants to buy those pickles that they,
12:29
you know,
12:29
they come for in the bakery category.
12:32
Um It's not,
12:33
it's not the West Palm Beach green market with cider donuts,
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you know,
12:37
like so um it's,
12:40
it's really picking and,
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and not we laugh because we have these categories and percentages because the last thing we want is for you to show up and all you have is 10.
12:51
You know,
12:51
I'm gonna say pickle vendors again,
12:52
but you,
12:53
you've got to watch uh the number of products you have in the same category and repeating the same products,
13:00
then nobody would do well.
13:01
If we had too many of the same thing,
13:04
nobody knows the green market better than you do.
13:06
What would you say is say the top tip that you would like to have people who are visiting the green market for the first time to keep in mind.
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So I would say if it was my first time to go to the green market,
13:21
I would probably go to our website first and check out the site map.
13:25
Just get the lay of the land.
13:27
We have 100 next year,
13:29
we'll have over 100 and 25 vendors.
13:31
That's a lot of vendors.
13:32
We doubled,
13:33
we more than doubled in size from the biggest number we had at our old site.
13:38
So that's a lot of vendors and that website is W PB dot org slash green market will get you to the page.
13:45
Well,
13:46
W PB dot org slash events and that'll get you to the and that'll get you to the page.
13:52
So first I get the lay of the land.
13:54
Second thing that I would do is we,
13:57
we are open from 9 to 1 every Saturday this next year from October 7th to April the,
14:03
I think it's the 22nd.
14:05
Um I would get here early.
14:09
How early I would get here at nine o'clock because parking is free starting at nine o'clock in the City Hall garage and also the,
14:21
um,
14:21
the Cleda Street Garage at Quad and,
14:25
and,
14:27
um,
14:28
I would bring my shopping bag because you're gonna shop.
14:32
I'd skip breakfast personally because there's a lot of choices.
14:36
I would bring my dog on a short leash because,
14:39
you know,
14:39
if you have a dog that likes to socialize,
14:42
it's a great opportunity for that.
14:45
Um,
14:47
and I would just plan to spend a couple of hours at least because you want to see everything,
14:53
especially your first time.
14:54
You don't know.
14:55
You know,
14:55
it's just like going to the grocery store where,
14:57
you know,
14:57
you know,
14:58
where the soda is.
14:59
So if you just have to run in and pick up a few things you can,
15:02
but when you go to a different grocery store that has things set up differently,
15:07
you have to spend more time.
15:08
So,
15:09
you know,
15:09
as you come,
15:10
most people come at least twice a month,
15:13
at least a lot of people come every week,
15:15
you know,
15:15
and one of the things that's obvious about the success of the green market,
15:20
not only with the amount of people that have been coming,
15:22
you won a great many awards.
15:25
Can you tell us a little bit about some of the really stand out awards that you've picked up over the years?
15:29
Sure.
15:30
Um You know,
15:31
I I'm personally very blessed to work with some ex extremely talented people in my office.
15:37
Um Graphic design wise,
15:39
marketing pr and um we are members of the Florida Festival and Events association and the International Festivals and Events association.
15:49
Every year,
15:49
they have,
15:50
you know,
15:50
these award things that they do and we submit and many,
15:54
many of our,
15:55
our uh collateral pieces.
15:57
T-shirts,
15:59
all of the things have won awards for,
16:02
for um the creativity and talent that my folks have,
16:07
which is every year we have a different theme.
16:10
So there's a different look and,
16:11
you know,
16:12
it's just every year,
16:13
it's fun.
16:13
What are we gonna do this year?
16:15
Uh One of the things that we did that won a gold award at the uh we call it the I F E A international festivals and events.
16:22
So it was pretty,
16:23
it was during COVID and we were able to still have the West Palm Beach Green Market during COVID in the 2021 season,
16:31
2020 got cut short because of COVID.
16:35
And um we always do opening day and opening day is a big deal and people talk about it for weeks beforehand.
16:43
We hear people soon as Pumpkin latte comes out,
16:46
you hear about the West Palm Beach Green market.
16:48
It means fall.
16:49
It doesn't matter if it's 100 degrees out.
16:50
People are looking forward to fall at the West Palm Beach green market.
16:55
So here we have the green market.
16:57
We had many,
16:58
many rules in place for that season as one would expect to be COVID,
17:03
very,
17:04
very COVID cautious.
17:06
And so what are we gonna do for,
17:08
what are the mayor and the commissioners gonna do for the big opening act?
17:11
Because they always do something.
17:13
We're not cutting a ribbon.
17:14
We don't cut ribbons because that's not gonna cut it literally.
17:18
So,
17:19
um,
17:20
so we had the mayor and we had the commissioners each at their own socially distanced eight ft table and we gave them each a squash.
17:30
They had a big squash and safety goggles and,
17:35
uh,
17:35
I wasn't a sledgehammer.
17:37
It was like a big mallet.
17:39
And the theme that year was on the t-shirt was squash 2020.
17:46
And so at the count of three,
17:48
they all took their mallets and smashed the squash and,
17:52
you know,
17:52
it was,
17:53
everybody was like,
17:54
I want the mallet.
17:55
I wanna try that.
17:56
And they were all like beating that squash.
18:02
It was kind of fun.
18:03
I mean,
18:03
it was a little lighthearted but you know,
18:05
it,
18:05
what it showed was,
18:06
it showed perseverance and we were gonna make it and,
18:11
and yeah,
18:11
it was a miserable memory still but it,
18:15
it,
18:15
it was,
18:16
it was fun,
18:17
you know,
18:17
and we won a gold,
18:19
as I said,
18:19
we won the gold award for that because it nobody else around the country squashed 2020.
18:25
That was a very creative solution.
18:27
You guys are just so creative.
18:28
Hey,
18:28
listen,
18:29
what I understand is you one of the big crown jewels that we've recently got an award for,
18:35
for a green market was the USA 10 best readers poll where we were uh selected the best farmers market in the US.
18:45
How did that come about?
18:46
And how do you feel about that?
18:47
Oh,
18:47
my gosh,
18:48
that is amazing.
18:49
Um We've won it two years in a row,
18:52
which is just spectacular and it came out,
18:57
I believe because USA today did a story about the green market as part of um their efforts as far as what attracted tourists to this area.
19:05
And the green market is a consistent uh response to that,
19:10
not just by us because we push it.
19:11
But people are,
19:12
oh,
19:12
you got to go on Saturdays to the West Palm Beach.
19:14
We hear that all day.
19:15
We gotta go to the West Palm Beach green market gotta get to it.
19:18
So they have many,
19:19
many contests they do for the 10 best and one of them is the category best farmers market.
19:24
And um we got a notice saying,
19:27
hey,
19:27
you've been nominated.
19:29
I I have no idea who nominated us.
19:31
Um There it starts out with 20 and it's a voting.
19:37
It's about almost a month that you have to vote,
19:41
but you have to be nominated in the top 20 in the country and then um vote via,
19:48
you know,
19:48
social media website.
19:50
You have to go and vote and collect the votes and the community got so behind us for the last two years,
19:58
the vendors helped us out.
20:00
I mean,
20:00
really it was a far reaching effort.
20:03
And isn't it just an amazing honor to have that title,
20:07
not to mention the pr and marketing.
20:10
Um What comes along with that to be able to stretch your banner across the street and say you're the best in the country.
20:17
And then the other thing that you notice with that and this is the best part for me as I walk around there and nobody knows who I am.
20:25
I'm just,
20:25
my ears are out just to listen and people just so proud and you hear them say to their visitors from out of town.
20:32
This is the West Palm Beach Green market.
20:35
I come here every Saturday.
20:36
We are we not,
20:38
not every day.
20:39
We are the best in the country.
20:41
We are the best in the country.
20:43
And when you hear that you're like,
20:44
ok,
20:45
there's ownership and a really good community event has ownership by people that just come,
20:52
you wanna say just,
20:53
but they come to it,
20:54
they don't produce it,
20:55
but they own it.
20:56
And that's how you make a community events.
20:58
That is fantastic.
20:59
And now there's an opportunity for this green market to be the three time champion.
21:05
What's going on with that?
21:06
So,
21:07
you know,
21:07
you have to um what is it?
21:09
Defend your title?
21:10
Right.
21:10
So we're in year three and um a little different this year,
21:15
they're doing it during the summer.
21:16
The competition usually it's during our season,
21:19
which is fine.
21:20
Um It's it's going on right now.
21:24
And um you know,
21:26
we do a number of things to get the word out because we're gonna need the community support again because you literally are voting against.
21:33
It usually ends up to be like the top four or five and they're battling it out and in order to,
21:39
you know,
21:40
celebrate what we've done for the last two years,
21:42
what the community has helped us to achieve and also get the vote out because honestly,
21:47
we need to do that.
21:48
Um on the June 15th,
21:51
22nd and 29th Clematis by night,
21:54
we are going to have a special,
21:56
we're calling it the mini.
21:58
And so there's special little mini green markets at each of those from 6 to 9 PM on those Thursday nights and you'll get um we'll have out there some of the old favorite vendors,
22:09
some of the new vendors that will have just,
22:11
just now be known to be in the green market for the next year,
22:16
which is the 29th season.
22:17
So be able to come out and you know,
22:20
all 100 and 25 won't be out there at one time,
22:23
but you'll get a,
22:24
a nice little selection and some may be the same on the next week,
22:28
but some may be a little different,
22:29
but we're excited about the mini,
22:30
a little flavor of the green market right in the middle of the summer,
22:34
skinny on the mini.
22:37
So,
22:37
ok,
22:38
so I want to vote.
22:39
What do I need to do?
22:41
Yeah.
22:41
So the easiest thing right on our website again.
22:45
W PB dot org forward slash events,
22:47
there will be a button right there and probably on the home page too and you just hit it and it'll connect you and make sure you're hitting the city of West Palm Beach green market because there will be selections because we want you to vote and you can vote every day and you can vote on,
23:06
you know,
23:06
any of your devices every OK.
23:09
So you can vote on on every day.
23:11
So while this is going,
23:12
so it's not just one vote,
23:13
you get this.
23:16
So vote,
23:16
vote,
23:16
vote,
23:17
vote every day,
23:18
every day.
23:19
That's fantastic.
23:20
Well,
23:20
I think that we have a great opportunity to do this for a three peat,
23:25
uh make it great.
23:26
And what we've discovered is the green market is a part of West Palm Beach.
23:32
It's a part of this community that has been around for a while and will be here for a long,
23:36
long time because of the efforts of you and the staff at the community events.
23:41
So uh well done and I'm sure the folks around the city are thanking you every,
23:46
every day.
23:47
So I appreciate it.
23:47
Well,
23:48
thank you.
23:48
It's a citywide effort,
23:50
truly with our friends and partners like you in the city internal that help and the people that come out and support it and the vendors that,
23:58
you know,
23:59
it's a lot of work to be a vendor.
24:02
And yeah,
24:02
there's fruits,
24:03
you know,
24:03
to,
24:03
there's benefits from it.
24:05
But,
24:05
um,
24:06
it's,
24:06
it's a citywide effort and we love it and we hope it's around for a very long time as well.
24:13
Mary,
24:13
thank you for your time.
24:14
And we certainly hope that the fans of the West Palm Beach green market will take a moment to vote,
24:19
vote,
24:19
vote to keep this event.
24:21
Number one in the country.
24:23
The City Center podcast is produced by the City of West Palm Beach.
24:26
We hope you found today's discussion useful.
24:29
And if you did,
24:29
please subscribe.
24:31
If you have any questions or comments,
24:33
please write us at podcast at W PB dot org.
24:37
And if you wish to learn more about the West Palm Beach Green Market,
24:40
visit the city's website at W PB dot org slash events.
24:45
This is Jerry Marcelo.
24:46
We'll see you next time.