Organizers pleased with Market Day turnout, activity
Published 10:49 pm Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Locals and out-of-towners browsed through handcrafted items and devoured all kinds of food at this year’s Riverfront Market Day, held Saturday.
Candi Duncan, president of the Selma-Dallas County Historic Preservation Society, said Market Day was much more successful this year than the last.
“We still had two and a half blocks of vendors,” Duncan said. “All the comments that came from people seemed to be good.”
This year’s Market Day was different than those in the past because no flea market items were sold. Duncan said she believed this added more novelty to the items sold because they were all high quality.
“Most of the people that come to Riverfront Market Day are coming to do Christmas shopping, and most of the people that come, come to buy, so the vendors seemed to be pretty happy because they sold a lot of items,” she said.
Money raised through ticket sales will go toward the preservation society, and Duncan said she hopes this money will benefit the riverfront through building renovations.
“We made thousands of dollars,” she said. “The riverfront money we try and keep on Water Avenue and support projects down there.”
Specifically, Duncan said she wishes to use the money raised to renovate the old YMCA building located downtown.
Another new feature at this year’s Market Day was a scavenger hunt, which entailed participants to recall their knowledge of Water Avenue.
Kelly Sue Giampietro, organizer of the scavenger hunt, said the event was a hit and all of the participants learned a lot about the history on Water Avenue.
Ashley Ervin won first place in the hunt and received a cash prize of $300. Brayton Brawn and Jackson Henderson came in second and received $200, while Helene Felton and Joseph Childress came in third earning $100.
“Everyone who participated seemed to enjoy themselves and we hope to have more participation next year,” Duncan said of the scavenger hunt.
For next year’s Market Day, Duncan said she hopes to have more volunteers and more participants.
“It’s a great day and I don’t want to see it go,” Duncan said. “We really need locals to help with it. I hope we get to continue to have it.”