Birthday Boys (l-r) Chase Allred, Jack Davis and Max Dreffer finally hit Double Digits!

Just one week from today we will be celebrating Thanksgiving.  What a wonderful holiday to relax and share a meal with family and friends.  We can already smell the pumpkin pie in the oven!

Today’s Around Davidson introduces you to two new people in town, Sheri Cole and Lori Reynolds, whose welcoming smiles will make you feel right at home.  We also have news of a TBDDP for Max Dreffer, Jack Davis and Chase Allred, a new poster design for the Davidson Farmer’s Market, a Vesper Service in the country, and notes about upcoming activities. Read the full story

Tokens are part of a new payment system Davidson Farmers Market. (David Boraks photo)

System allows the market to accept federal food aid and credit cards

By ALEX GREGOR
DavidsonNews.net

The Davidson Farmer’s Market is making it easier to pay for fresh food. A new electronic card reader allows patrons to pay with credit and debit cards. Customers can also redeem government benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) of the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service using electronic benefits transfer (EBT) cards.

The market’s 2009 regular season is over. It will be back next Saturday, Nov. 21, for the next in a planned series of holiday markets. It will open slightly later than its regular season hours – 9  a.m. – and run through noon, in its location next to Town Hall. Read the full story

Davidson Farmers Market plans winter markets again this year. (David Boraks photo)

Davidson Farmers Market ends its weekly run for the season Oct. 31, but local food lovers fear not:  Again this year, local produce and meats will be available through the fall and winter months, at fall/holiday markets in November and December and biweekly “tailgate” markets this winter.

The winter markets are aimed at meeting demand, from both farmers and consumers, market manager Mary Jane Leach told DavidsonNews.net. Some farmers who traditionally have taken the winter off now see an opportunity in year-round farming. “Our farmers who are growing for the winter need to sell, and we need to eat,” Ms. Leach said. Read the full story

The Bragg family (from left) Carlton, Benton, Ben, Frank and Frances at their stall at Davidson Farmers Market.

Kids sell their produce at market, donate proceeds to Ada Jenkins Center

By MICHELE MILLER HOUCK

What started out as a fun summer project three years ago for the Braggs of Ramah Creek Farm has turned into a lesson in entrepreneurship and philanthropy for the whole family. Read the full story

To the editor:

The planning concept for the mixed-use parking deck as presented in Tuesday’s Town Board meeting looks at first glance to cover the town’s parking need for commuters and shoppers in a functional and attractive way. (July 15, “Parking deck/office building proposed downtown.”)  I am concerned, though, that the concept as presented does not seem to give adequate consideration to the character and future of the Davidson Farmers Market which the parking deck would displace. Read the full story

We Davidsonians love our farmer’s market. Just take a look at the size of the crowds that come downtown next to Town Hall every Saturday morning to buy fresh produce, meats, flowers and more. Now, Davidson Farmers Market is hoping that love can translate into a cash payoff, in a national online contest called “Love Your Farmers Market.” Read the full story

Drawing shows location and a possible design for the deck. Town Hall is at left, Main Street buildings at bottom, Jackson Street at top.

Town Board members got a glimpse Tuesday night of what a new downtown parking deck next to Town Hall might look like — if the town can figure out how to pay for it.

The structure could help ease a long-time parking crunch downtown, provide spaces for the 77x commuter bus and proposed commuter rail line, and allow for an expansion of retail business downtown, town Planning Director Kris Krider told the board. The plan, which is only preliminary, also could require relocating Davidson Farmers Market – possibly to the top level of the deck, he said. Read the full story

A customer picks out some student-grown mustard greens at the farmers market. Teacher Cameron Swallow (right) and her Problem Solving class at Davidson IB Middle School have a garden at Ada Jenkins Center.

Davidson Farmers Market attracted local food lovers downtown Saturday morning with the opening sale of the 2009 spring/summer season. The market continues Saturdays through October.

Opening day included a ceremonial bell-ringing by Mayor John Woods, tours and information, and a table of student-grown produce. Students in Cameron Swallow’s Problem Solving class at Davidson IB Middle School have been tending a garden behind the Ada Jenkins Center, on Gamble Street. All proceeds from sales on Saturday went to the center. Read the full story