Welcome, new
farmers market
managers
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
PUTNAM — On opening day of the Putnam Saturday Farmers Market June 1 market goers will see two new faces, co-managers Samantha Gatzke and Cassidy Ball.
Both share a background connected to local farming and a genuine excitement about growing the farmers market.
Ball was in or around local farms since she was 5 years old. Her interest inspired her to become an intern through the Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms.
Her father helped with the Desjardins Farm in Plainfield. “At first I would buy from him and then I asked to help,” she said.
What she likes best about growing is the changing seasons. Each season brings new fruits and vegetables.
Ball overlapped with outgoing market manager Emily Barnes a couple times at the end of last season and she said she found all the farmers to have been really helpful. “I’m very excited to get started,” she said.
Gatzke came from growing up with gardening. “I’ve been around farms. My whole family worked or owned farms. I picked up a lot.”
Asked what attracted her to applying for the co-manager position, she said has been attending the Putnam market for a long time. She would go every week with her daughter. She thought it’d be something she’d enjoy.
She, too, is very excited about the market. Lots of new vendors have signed up as have as some of the “regulars.” Some of the new vendors include soap making, crocheting and two other local bakeries, joining Sugarz. Some musicians are signed up and they are working on getting a face painter. Senior resources will be there as well as Pluck-a-Duck fund-raiser sales. In addition, they hope to get resources such as early Head Start and WIC.
“We’d like it to be geared for families,” she said.
Returning will be the transaction machine for the EBT/SNAP transactions and debit payments. The cost of the machine went up a bit, averaging $200 per month, but it served thousands of people, according to Putnam Economic and Community Development Director Maryann Chinatti. Some 84 people used it for SNAP last year but many, many more “in the 1,000s” used it for debit payments. Some farmers do not take credit cards.
Speaking from the consumer side, Gatzke said farmers markets should be all about local — everything freshly grown and not trucked in from the West Coast.
“Most importantly, I want the market goers to feel welcomed,” she added.

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