Previous Markets…
June 4 - Week 1
Food for Thought: History Week
DL Fowler – LINCOLN RAW – Bestselling author DL Fowler goes inside people’s heads and invites readers along for the ride. Most of the past decade has been devoted to studying and writing about Abraham Lincoln’s life and personality. His biographical novel, Lincoln Raw, is included in the Lincoln Collection of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield, Illinois. Fowler earned a bachelor’s degree in Humanities/English from the University of Southern California and completed an MBA at California State University-San Bernardino where his studies focused on human behavior.
Samuel Snoek-Brown – HAGRIDDEN – is the author of the forthcoming novella In the Pulse There Lies Conviction as well as the novel Hagridden and the fiction chapbooks Where There Is Ruin and Box Cutters. He also serves as production editor for Jersey Devil Press. He lives with his librarian wife in Tacoma.
Kid’s Club
Garden in Your Glove – Kids will be planting a variety of seeds in a plastic glove that they can take home with them. Once the seeds start to sprout, you can plant them in the garden. This is a great opportunity to explore with your child the time differences that each type of seed takes to germinate. For older children you can read more here.
Scavenger Hunt – Kids will interact with the market to find a variety of produce and other edibles.
Since this is the first week make sure and register you child. Kids that participate in 10 of the 13 markets will get a free Children’s Museum Membership for exclusive membership privileges. All participating kids will receive a $2 Token to spend on produce or plants.
June 11 - Week 2
Food for Thought: Kid’s Week
Jennifer Preston Chushcoff – SNOWFLAKES – is a word nerd with a Halloween heart. She was born and raised in Southern California and continued her trek north after attending UC Berkeley. Jenn has been frolicking in the woods and water of the Pacific Northwest ever since. She’s an award-winning author, artist and Master Gardener with work in anthologies, journals and children’s books. Her nature-inspired art appears in galleries and private collections. Jenn is excited to connect the South Sound community and has enjoyed watching CC rise from the waters like a mighty literary kraken. Stalk her: www.byJenn.com. Say hello: contact@byjenn.com.
Alexis St. John – MEEHOO GOES TO MARS: I create worlds; safe and tranquil places where Beings can come and rest for a while. Ideas can manifest as paintings, sculptures, illustrations, or stories. The medium or style is not as important to me as the feeling that my pieces evoke. For the past several years, I have been writing and illustrating picture books that feature my characters. My books are available on Amazon. To see more of my work, please visit my website at: alexisstjohn.com
Kid’s Club
Above and Below the Earth – Kids will be making above and below ground drawings. They will then get to place some produce where they think it will grow. Interaction with farmers is encouraged.
All participating kids will receive a $2 Token to spend on produce or plants. Kids that participate in 10 of the 13 markets will get a free Children’s Museum “Playful” Membership with exclusive membership privileges.
June 18 - Week 3
Food for Thought: Awareness Week
Kid’s Club
Growing Sock Beards – Kids will be planting socks that will sprout beards in honor of Father’s Day. And while we know not all Dads have beards, we know that beards are fun for all.
All participating kids will receive a $2 Token to spend on produce or plants. Kids that participate in 10 of the 13 markets will get a free Children’s Museum “Playful” Membership with exclusive membership privileges.
June 25 - Week 4
CANCELLED DUE TO TASTE OF TACOMA
July 2 - Week 5
Food for Thought: Southern Fried Scribes or Boys with Beards
William Turbyfill – FIELD OF TURBY – from a young age William Turbyfill began read the dictionary and hasn’t looked back since. He has had the privilege of traveling as far as India and meeting people as high up as Queen Elizabeth II. (It was super brief, but she enjoyed it.) Whether it was acting in plays, shooting short movies or putting pen to paper, William has always enjoyed stories and what they tell us about each other and the world in which we find ourselves. One of his passions is encouraging and supporting other people and helping them succeed in their own passions
Alec Clayton – TUPELO – is a self-published novelist and feature writer. His work includes seven novels. His latest novel is Tupelo, the story of a set of identical twins growing up in Tupelo, Mississippi in the 1950s and ’60s. Clayton writes about theatre and art for the Tacoma News Tribune, Weekly Volcano and OLYARTS. He resides in Olympia with wife, Gabi. Together they founded and run Mud Flat Press (www.mudflatpress.com), a home-based company dedicated to helping other self-published authors prepare manuscripts for publication, including editing, formatting and cover design
Kid’s Club
Match the Seed Sounds – Kids will get to shake a variety of seeds in shakers and match the seed sounds to images of plants.
All participating kids will receive a $2 Token to spend on produce or plants. Kids that participate in 10 of the 13 markets will get a free Children’s Museum “Playful” Membership with exclusive membership privileges.
July 9 - Week 6
Food for Thought: Read Like a Local Week
Josh Kilen – AROUND THE SOUND – is the author of Around the Sound, a humorous book about the Puget Sound’s history and the people that call it home. He also writes the Tales of Big and Little, a children’s fiction series and more. His fiction books deal with themes of hope, defeating evil, salvation, and love. You can find out more about his work at JoshKilen.com.
Ka
ren Pickett – RUSTON (Images of America) – is a Western Washington native. Her love for Ruston began when she moved into town in 1983 and grew deeper while working for Asarco, the owner of the local shuttered copper smelter, for almost 17 years. Being active in local politics and serving as community liaison for Asarco or volunteering with the local business district have all deepened Pickett’s connection to and love for the Town of Ruston. She hopes this book will capture Ruston’s past in image and word for future generations, many of whom will have no idea that a towering stack once stood on the hill over a dark tunnel, all part of a huge industrial complex that laid the seed for this tiny town. Keep up with Ruston’s latest news by following the Ruston Home blog.
Kid’s Club
Thanks to Fab Lab, kids will be able to build unique laser cut jewelry inspired by the local vendors at the North Pearl Farmers Market. Fab Lab hosts youth summer camps including Inventor Camp, Virtual Reality, Fabrication, and Prototyping with Electronics.
July 16 - Week 7
Food for Thought: Red Dress Press
Liz Shine – HALLELUJAH – Liz Shine lives in Olympia, WA in the USA. She writes mostly fiction, some nonfiction, and poetry, and holds an MFA from Pacific Lutheran University. She has published in Shark Reef, Dual Coast, and Blue Crow Magazine. She independently published a novella and a collection of poems through Red Dress Press. She believes in the power of practice and has been practicing writing since sometime in the early 90s when she became an adult in the rain-soaked, former logging town of Aberdeen. When she is not writing or reading, she is teaching, getting outdoors, and in every way trying to be in the wonder of the moment. She is the proprietor of Red Dress Press and the author of Make Time, a blog encouraging herself and others to make time for creative work. You can follow her on Twitter @lizshine74 and on Instagram at red.dress.press
Christina Hendriksen – Christina Hendricksen writes poetry, drama, and fiction. She lives in the Pacific Northwest.
Kid’s Club
Children’s Museum of Tacoma, hosts a surprise kid’s activity – Play to Learn!
July 23 - Week 8
Food for Thought: Blue Zephyr Press
Bethany Maines is a native of Tacoma WA, the author of the Carrie Mae Mystery series, Tales From the City of Destiny, An Unseen Current and the forthcoming Shark Santoyo Crime Series. When she’s not traveling to exotic lands, or kicking some serious butt with her fifth degree black belt in karate, she can be found chasing after her daughter, or glued to the computer working on her next novel. Learn more: www.bethanymaines.com
SPECIAL OFFER: Buy a print book at the 7/23 market and get a free digital book!
Kid’s Club:
Thanks to Fab Lab, kids will be able to build unique laser cut items inspired by the local vendors at the North Pearl Farmers Market. Fab Lab hosts youth summer camps including Inventor Camp, Virtual Reality, Fabrication, and Prototyping with Electronics.
July 30- Week 9
Preparing for Merger
We are merging! North Pearl Farmer Market is merging with Pt. Ruston Farmers Market under the heading of the Tacoma Farmers Market association. See all of our great programs for Kid’s Club and Food for Thought next week at our new location and time (10am-2pm).
Aug 6- Week 10
Food for Thought: Stories of Self
Joanne Clarkson – THE FATES – Joanne M. Clarkson’s full-length poetry collection, “The Fates,” won Bright Hill Press’ annual contest and was just published June 2017. Her chapbook, “Believing the Body,” from Gribble Press appeared in 2014. Poems have been included in such journals as Poet Lore, Western Humanities Review, Alaska Quarterly Review, Fjords Review and Rhino. Clarkson has Masters Degrees in English and Library Science, has taught and worked as a professional librarian. After caring for her mother through a long illness, she re-careered as a RN specializing in Home Health and Hospice Care. In 2016 she published her memoir “There’s Always a Miracle: True Stories of Life Before and After Death,” about her experiences as a Hospice nurse framed by personal experiences with death and afterlife.
EC Murray – A LONG WAY FROM PARIS – E.C. Murray is the author of A Long Way from Paris (named a Kirkus Best Book of the Year) and Life Kind of Sucks. She teaches at Seattle Central and Tacoma Community Colleges. Connect with EC at: www.ecmurray.com or www.writersconnection.org
Kid’s Club
Pinecone Bird Feeder – The kids will be making birdfeeders with pinecones, almond butter and birdseed. (We will have bags to wrap these up. 🙂 The best thing is putting them were you can see them and watch all the birds come to you. There are plenty of bird identification websites and guide books to help learn about bird watching. You can even enter your zip code and print a list of birds commonly seen in your area.
Aug 13 - Week 11
Food for Thought: Seaside Stories
Nick Stokes – AFFAIR – has worked as a high school physics teacher, a wilderness ranger, an apple picker, a trail crew leader, a stable hand, a corn detassler, a tribology researcher and is still a mule packer. For more information on his fictions, plays and prose visit nickstokes.net. His novel, Affair, first serialized by The Seattle Star, is available at Amazon, The Nearsighted Narwhal and King’s Books in Tacoma and elsewhere.
One Person’s Trash is a literary journal of prose and poetry that exists to share the stories of homelessness. It started humbly as a student project at UW Tacoma in Winter quarter, quickly grew legs, heart and words from all across the nation (nations) and willed itself into existence. One Person’s Trash operates on a street newspaper model where the journal is actually sold by homeless and poor panhandlers with them keeping all the profits. Issue one of One Person’s Trash hit the streets of Tacoma on May 22nd and its two headed mission of telling homeless tales and financially benefiting those in poverty is moving steadily forward. Check out featured work, find out more about the One Person’s Trash mission and submit your homeless stories at onepersonstrash.org.
Kid’s Club:
Match the Seeds – The kids will be matching seeds to pictures of plants. Most plants’ seeds grow to an equally sized plant but not all! We will also be doing Market Bingo courtesy of the Children’s Museum of Tacoma.
Aug 20 - Week 12
Food for Thought: Blue Zephyr Press
Bethany Maines & Karen Harris Tully bring an eclectic mix of young adult, literary fiction, and mystery novels with a common thread – books that focus on empowering women. With mystery-solving actresses, world-saving teenage aliens, mermaids, and fashion forward super spies, our books will only leave you wanting more! Stop by to get your free digital book!
Bethany Maines is a native of Tacoma WA, the author of the Carrie Mae Mystery series, Tales From the City of Destiny, An Unseen Current and the forthcoming Shark Santoyo Crime Series. When she’s not traveling to exotic lands, or kicking some serious butt with her fifth degree black belt in karate, she can be found chasing after her daughter, or glued to the computer working on her next novel. Learn more: www.bethanymaines.com
Karen Harris Tully creates elaborate worlds for her novels aided by her bachelor’s in political science and economics. A PNWA member, she’s the author of The Faarian Chronicles and Janie’s Got a Car, published in Creative Colloquy, Volume One. After growing up in the snowy mountains of Colorado, Karen experienced the traffic nightmare of Seattle before accidentally realizing she’s a small-town girl. She happily lives in Raymond, WA, singing karaoke with her amazingly supportive husband, beautiful son, and two disgruntled felines. Learn more: www.karenharristully.com
Kid’s Club
Cone Bird Feeder – The kids will be making birdfeeders with ice cream cones, peanut butter and birdseed. (We will have bags to wrap these up. The best thing is putting them were you can see them and watch all the birds come to you. There are plenty of bird identification websites and guide books to help learn about bird watching. You can even enter your zip code and print a list of birds commonly seen in your area.
Aug 20 - Week 13
Food for Thought: Poetry Week
Christina Butcher – STILL CLUTCHING MAPS – is a freelance writer, podcaster and veteran from Chaparral, New Mexico. She has a passion for storytelling and community involvement, and her debut poetry collection, Still Clutching Maps, was published in May 2017. She holds a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from New Mexico State University and a certificate in storytelling and content strategy from Washington State University. She lives and writes in Tacoma, Washington.
Leah Mueller – ALLERGIC TO EVERYTHING – is a 58 year old, indie writer from Tacoma, Washington. She is the author of two chapbooks, “Queen of Dorksville” (Crisis Chronicles Press) and “Political Apnea” (Locofo Chaps) and two books, “Allergic to Everything” (Writing Knights Press) and “The Underside of the Snake” (Red Ferret Press). Her work has been published in Blunderbuss, Memoryhouse, Outlook Springs, Atticus Review, Origins Journal, Silver Birch Press, Cultured Vultures, Quail Bell, and many others. She was a featured poet at the 2015 New York Poetry Festival, and a runner-up in the 2012 Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest.
Kid’s Club:
Bean Sprout Necklaces – What’s cooler than a necklace that grows? Kids will be planting bean sprout seeds into small cups strung on a necklace. Once the bean seeds sprout you can transfer them to another container. Activity courtesy of the Children’s Museum of Tacoma.