A new kind of event is popping up in St. Adolphe. With the help of two energetic organizers, the St. Adolphe Market aims to bring people together and raise money for community causes.
Kira Bodnarchuk and Donna Moroz, a pair of coworkers and friends from St. Adolphe, have already organized a couple of mini-markets, which attracted 15 and 30 vendors respectively. Their next event, however, will be full-sized.
The St. Adophe Market will open on Sunday, September 27, with at least 41 vendors, a food truck, a coffee cart, and live music.
It all started when Bodnarchuk decided to set up a few local vendors on a neighbourhood driveway. She was aiming to focus on selling her own products—homemade sewn baby wear, bibs, and booties—so Moroz, who has experience with event planning and community markets, offered to help coordinate.
“After realizing that we have so many local vendors, I decided we should make a mini-market out of it,” says Bodnarchuk. “I had no experience at all and just started selling my sewing, so [Moroz and I] collaborated and built the mini-market in July, which was a small community event. August’s got a little bigger and better.”
After the driveway event, the second market was held in the St. Adolphe School parking lot.
An even bigger location was needed for the September 27 event, so they arranged to use the space next to the St. Adolphe Child Care Centre on Main Street.
Giving back to the community has always been part of plan with these events. Proceeds from the table fees will be donated to the St. Adolphe School, where it will be used to secure basketball, football, and soccer equipment.
“St. Adolphe is an amazing small town. We just needed more events to bring us together,” Bodnarchuk says. “I am currently on mat leave until October, so it gave me an opportunity to really get involved in something for the community. As a vendor, I love meeting locals and having everyone together.”
She acknowledgers that it’s been challenging to follow COVID-19 guidelines and still put on a great market—as well as take care of her own children, who are 11 months and three years old.
“To ease everyone’s minds about the difficult situation that 2020 has given us, we follow the guidelines set out to us by Manitoba Health,” she says. “We are having an entrance and an exit, with volunteers to help keep numbers appropriate within the market. We have hand sanitizer at every vendor and at the beginning of the market. Masks are recommended for all vendors to wear. With COVID, if this one is anything like the previous market, we won’t have any problems, especially since it’s a bigger location.”
Bodnarchuk and Moroz credit the RM of Ritchot and Mayor Chris Ewen for helping to secure the bigger and better location.
The pair are working on a volunteer basis and not taking any proceeds from the table fees for their time spent coordinating the market.
September’s food truck will be operated by Oh! Good! Path!, which is a brand-new Manitoba business that serves up Japanese cuisine. PERK Events will also be on site with their mobile coffee cart.
And if Bodnarchuk and Moroz have anything to say about it, September won’t be their last market event in St. Adolphe. They plan to continue with the markets and finding new projects to fundraiser for—provided they can find a large enough indoor location for when the weather turns.
Regardless of how things shape up for the winter, Bodnarchuk is confident that they will be holding monthly markets again next summer.
The St. Adolphe Market is free to attend and will be held at 372 Main Street from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, September 27.
