Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — Hayden's new farmers market won't quite be flush with vendors when it kicks into gear Friday, but organizers are pleased with what they can offer.

Suzanne Banning has spearheaded the market on behalf of the Hayden Garden Club. The event will run from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday. Brothers Custom Processing from Craig will sell barbecue, and 4-H members will sell sodas and water. Bluegrass band Ragweed will perform.

Twelve vendors are on board, including nonprofit groups and food sellers, Banning said. People are signing up slowly, but she expects it to pick up if the market is successful. The market will be on Walnut Street, south of Jefferson Avenue.

"We're going to kind of stretch it out on the street, give people some space, put the band and the barbecue toward the south end," Banning said.

Anyone interested in setting up a booth is asked to call Banning at 846-0616.

Banning clarified that she wasn't planning to pursue a liquor license for the market. She went to the town to ask what the protocol would be if a vendor wanted to sell alcohol. The vendor would have to go through a process to get permission from Hayden officials. Alcohol won't be available at the market Friday.

Vendors include Vonnie Frentress, Alpine Floral, RedClay and Michael Moss. Moss will sell produce, Banning said. The Hayden Garden Club also will have a booth, and Frentress will use space there.

Frentress lives on a ranch west of Hayden run by her husband, Kurt. The ranch produces wheat and cattle, and it offers big-game hunting. She will sell whole-wheat flour and whole wheat at the market. She said she thought the market would benefit the town.

"I want to support it, and I know my whole family's going to go and participate and eat there," Frentress said. "And I think it's a great way for our community to get together and to exchange locally grown products."

Banning said the Hayden High School band or booster club would sell food and that she expected the school's jazz band to play at future Friday markets.

Alpine Floral and Atrium in Steamboat Springs will sell silk arrangements, dried flowers, wreaths and cut flowers at a booth at the market. Owner Susanne Kane Bostrom said the time of the market allowed her to participate.

She said she'd like to have a booth at the Steamboat Springs market, but that Alpine Floral frequently handles weddings on Saturdays when the market takes place.

"This Friday night venue works out perfectly for us, and we do have Saturday business hours at the shop, so it would make it hard to be at the farmers market downtown," Bostrom said.

She also said the price was right. Hayden's market costs $10 for a booth, and vendors must get a $25 sales tax license from the town.

Bostrom eventually might turn over flower sales to the Garden Club.

"We're just going to try a little bit of everything, but everything we do is handcrafted," Bostrom said.

She said she looked forward to seeing how the Hayden community reacted.

"I thought it would be kind of fun to bring it to the people," Bostrom said.