May 10, 2006

Dear Monroe County Farmers’ Market supporter:

With five successful years in the record book, it is time to kick off the 6th Annual Monroe County Farmers’ Market for the 2006 season. The effort, being coordinated by the Monroe County USDA Service Center, University Outreach & Extension Council of Monroe County and the Paris Area Chamber of Commerce is once again aimed at helping local producers develop a marketing outlet and gain extra value for their products.

The market is scheduled to start on Saturday, May 27th and run each Saturday thereafter through mid-October from 9 a.m. until 12 noon. Starting in July, the Market will be open on Tuesdays from 4 until 6 p.m. For the convenience of local shoppers in the Paris area, the Market will be moved to the USDA Service Center at the south end of Paris. The move is intended to provide additional exposure to highway traffic and attract passersby.

Although small in size, the Market has already developed a good reputation of supplying a nice variety of quality, fresh local produce in it’s five years of existence. A truly successful market is one that is very community driven and farmer/producer based, as the market must be consistently supported by our local patrons visiting and purchasing products on a weekly basis, but most importantly it must be supplied on a regular basis from a strong foundation of local producers such as yourself.

With that in mind, we need your help by participating as often as you can during this market season and continuing to build on the good reputation of the Market. Please give one of us a call within the next couple of weeks and let us know of your plans to participate so that we may do some news releases and advertising. If you have any ideas for promotion we would be glad to listen. The operating rules and fee structure will remain the same for the 2006 season. A copy of those provisions are enclosed.

We look forward to your participation in a very successful 2006 Monroe County Farmers’ Market. If you have any questions or ideas, feel free to give me a call.

Best regards,