By ADIA REYNOLDS
Tiger Media Network
The Downtown Hays Market offers a wide spectrum of goods and services each Saturday from 7:30-11 am. The market itself can be found beneath the pavilion off of Main and 10th Street. From fresh fruits and vegetables to handmade gifts and more, this downtown marketplace promotes the lifeblood of local small businesses.
Downtown Hays describes the market as a place where customers can shop for their weekly groceries, find unique gifts that are made from local artisans, enjoy musical talents from local artists, all within the market’s laid-back atmosphere. The market jumps through hoops to create a welcoming space for any and all who stumble upon it. Music plays through speakers as sellers make friendly conversation with prospective buyers.
When the term ‘farmers market’ is brought up, many think of fresh produce. Dave Svaty, with Svaty’s Produce, has worked with his wife for all 40 years of their marriage to fill that very presumption. The couple visits multiple markets around the state, however, the Dowtown Market is a special stop for Svaty.
“This is one of our best markets. Hays is good to us,” he said.
The stalls vary from fresh vegetables to uniquely designed sweaters to crochet toys to epoxy and 3D-printed designs. Rhiannon, a nine-year vendor, told of how she learned to knit when she was eleven and has since transformed her skills into the stall it is today.
“Come on down. We have lots of handmade, homegrown, and baked items. Lots of variety,” she said.
And that description is only scratching the surface. Vendors rotate stock regularly, and the market itself regularly widens its reach to include more sellers. From Labor Day Weekend until the third week of October, Rhiannon and similar such sellers will be available at the Downtown Hays Market.
In just over a decade, the Market has undergone notable changes and expansions. Before the construction of the pavilion, stall vendors operated from tents in the parking lot across the street from its current whereabouts. Benjamin has been the market manager for the last three years, setting up an informational table about the SNAPS and DUFB program.
“[These programs allow] people who are lower income to ‘double’ their money to get more fruits and vegetables,” he said. The same stand offers advertising for the community and free coffee from Breathe Coffee House.
Two stalls in attendance last Saturday were the Walk to End Alzheimers and the Ask a Philosopher sections. Here rather than selling wares, they offer something of equal value entirely free: information. Furthermore, visitors of the Downtown Hays Market can also find the Hays Public Library’s Bookmobile parked to the side. At each of these stations visitors can get involved with community events, philosophical conversations, and free dispersal of books and movies. No matter what day-trippers in attendance are looking for, they can find it at the Downtown Hays Market.
Both last year and this year, the Downtown Hays Market has been voted best in the state.