The Rustburg Ruritan Club hosted its annual Spring Fling Open Market event Saturday from 12 to 4 p.m., where local farmers and vendors sold their goods to the community in Rustburg.
From custom-made cards to beautiful woodwork, local entrepreneurs come ready to sell and promote their handiwork to guests who stop by. Vendors sold a variety of foods, products and flowers that were made or sourced locally.
The farmers market is open every Thursday, but this event marks the beginning of their spring season, which will last until October.
Christi Thacker, a vendor for Mor-Lyn-Del Farm and one of the Rustburg Ruritan Club’s partners, says the one thing that makes this market different is its community giveback.
“Any funds that we take in from vendor fees — starting today until the end of October, 50% of those go to the two local foodbanks, and we’ve already given them close to $6,000 in the last two years,” Thacker said.
Thacker said they have about 300 people who show up to these events, and at this event, they also gave out reusable shopping bags to the first 150 people who attended.
Some of the local sponsors that made this event possible include The Fields of Flour, Lotus Yoga, Anzia’s, Created to Craft by A, Country Crumb, Ida Marie’s and Whiskey Ridge.
Thacker said they have seafood, meats, soaps, eggs, breads and vegetables. She said most are local farmers, but they have a few big-name resellers that come in to show off their products, including Tastefully Simple and Pampered Chef.
“We have anything you could possibly want, but our biggest sellers are usually your foods,” Thacker said.
Another upcoming event to look out for is the From Farm to Table Benefit on May 16, which includes donations from local farmers. Tickets are available for $50 each, and only 100 spots are available. For more information and updates, visit @rustburgruritancommunityfarmersmarket on Facebook.
McKinney is an off-campus news reporter.