The Weblog
The local foods movement is alive and well in Champaign County! Here are some updates on other projects while we finalize our virtual market:
Local Producers Map:
Our local producers map is ready for publication and you will soon be able to find it on gochampaign.com. Copies will be distributed around the community, in the local telephone book, and other “hangouts”. The guide lists the location and contact information for nearly 50 local producers within our county. The map was a project of the Local Food Council and printed with the help of some local sponsors including the Monument Square District, Champaign Bank, the Community Improvement Corporation, the Chamber of Commerce, the Farm Bureau and others. It is a great start to finding a local source for Champaign County’s finest!
Suite Madam Blue
Suite Madame Blue, gaze in your looking glass…
You’re not a child anymore…
Suite Madame Blue, the future is all but past…
Dressed in your jewels, you made your own rules…
You conquered the world and more…
(Suite Madam Blue-Styx)
So, I had a serious Styx addiction way, way back in the day. Freshman year in high school can pretty much be summed up, for me, by Styx. And, The Rolling Stones, and The Grateful Dead. But Styx…their music could transport. And, yes, like many girls, I was going to be Tommy Shaw’s girlfriend.
Anyway, recently, my mother gave me a few boxes that came from the attic of our West End house. One of them had ancient little drawings that my grandmother put into book form, and had her handwriting on each book depicting the year with my name. I almost cried just seeing her handwriting.
Another box had a bunch of cassettes and 8 track tapes. Some of the cassettes were mix tapes with years written on the covers. While going through the tapes, I found one with STYX written in marker. And, since you know my love of music, and my love of vintage, you just know that I have a cassette deck in one of my stereo systems. I popped this tape in, and let it play until it hit on this song.
I forgot how much love I had for this song. I started to remember the lyrics, and then the lyrics jumped out at me, reminding me of this little local market of love…
The beginning lyrics that I chose for this Weblog, spoke to me because we are no longer the child, no longer the young new kid. Our market has grown in the past four years, gained a presence that overcame the naysayers or the negative vibes that came with beginning something new. Something untried. Something unproven. We dressed our little market up, we marched it around, we sang it’s praises, we promoted, we conquered.
Suite Madame Blue gives way to our Suite Little Local Market of Love…we are a market of AMAZING proportions! So proud to be a part of the community. So proud to have such a local following.
Tonight, I open the market…I urge you to get to know us, revisit us, or continue to show us the love that you do on a weekly basis.
And, a quick note that I will be reminding you of in the next week…just as this market has grown, conquered, and held it’s own, we, your managers, have been watching, and adjusting when we feel it’s needed.
Beginning with Thursday’s pick up, we will now end pick up at 6pm instead of 6:30 pm*** This is really the first time that we have changed anything to the market, but after keeping records, we feel that the 6-6:30 time zone is no longer needed. So…make note…Customer Pick Up is from 4:30-6pm!!! Vendor Drop Off remains the same!!
Thank you for always supporting us, our little local market of love, and the community!!
Peace, Love, and Good Vibes…
Cosmic Pam