Frisco Farmers Market in full swing

Market benefits charity, as it is run by the Frisco Noon Lions Club.

A growing metropolis like Frisco may not be the first place you'd expect a farmers market to exist. Despite the city's expanding urban environment, however, the Frisco Farmers Market has thrived.

The Frisco Farmers Market, which was founded in 2007, consists of 41 vendors every Saturday at Frisco Square; some of the vendors take part every weekend, while others will alternate between weekends. While the farmers market strives to maintain a focus of food, it also offers other products.

"Our intention would be to be 90 percent food and 70 percent organic," said Brandy Miles, chairman and president of the Frisco Farmers Market. "Sometimes along the way you'll have to make concessions to obtain the ultimate goal, though. But food vendors will always be the first priority."

While the goal is to be predominantly food-oriented, the farmers market also offers a variety of non-food products for shoppers.

"We have a number of unique vendors -- S&S Jewelry, for example, is a really nice handcrafting company; they buy their beads and components, but they make all the jewelry themselves," Miles said. "Chas Thornhill makes the most beautiful things out of wood. I think he's an engineer by trade, but he does this on the side. He takes beautiful pieces of wood and turns them into something different."

In addition to products, the Frisco Farmers Market provides attendees with an atmosphere unmatched by other markets. Every weekend the market features bluegrass music by Doctor O's Medicine Show. This is done to emulate the feeling of old-time traveling salesmen, Miles said, as they would sing to get the attention of potential customers.

Unlike many other farmers markets, which merely operate to bring sales to vendors, the Frisco Farmers Market has a very clear goal: to help charity. This is because the farmers market is run by the Frisco Noon Lions Club, which uses the market as its charitable service, Miles said.

"We're a civic organization, and every civic organization needs a way to raise funds for their charitable projects," she explained. "Instead of doing several small projects, we do the market, which is our main fundraiser. We run it completely -- we get our contract with Frisco square, we do the marketing."

Just because the market serves charity doesn't mean it's not a legitimate place of business, however. In fact, it's actually helped both businesses and people looking for employment. Once the Noon Lions club saw the market's success, it began using it as a fundraiser as well.

"When this idea of a Frisco farmers market first came, the reason why we did it was from pure community service perspective," Miles said. "It makes fresh and raw produce easy to get to. It gave an open-air venue for people to come through. It also brings jobs to people who vend for us. Some are full-time vendors and some just do it for extra money. I've seen teenagers get employed out here -- there are so many positive elements to having it."

Weather conditions haven't been a problem for the farmers market so far, as it hasn't ran into many problems with the events themselves.

"We take place rain or shine in the absence of severe thunder storm warnings and things like that," Miles said. "But that's never happened since I've been here. Last year they had more droughts that affected their crops than any problems with the market itself."

The Frisco Farmers Market takes place every Saturday through Oct. 22 at 6048 Frisco Square Blvd. Market hours last from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. or until vendors sell out. For more information on the Frisco Farmers Market, visit its website at www.friscofarmersmarket.com.