Late Summer Produce, Musician Tim Fast, and the Humane Society at Saturday’s Riverwalk Market Fair

Fresh late-summer fruits and vegetables, music by Tim Fast, and a duck game for kids by the Prairie’s Edge Humane Society are just part of the fun on Saturday, September 21 at Northfield’s Riverwalk Market Fair. 

Seasonal Produce From Local Farmers, Artisan Foods, Art and Fine Craft

Late summer produce is abundant at Riverwalk.  Expect to find kale, carrots, onions, potatoes, eggplant, hot peppers, bell peppers, cabbage, melons, tomatoes, winter squash, apples, and eggs grown by local farmers. Artisan foods include a variety of fresh-baked breads, pastries, tarts and quiches from Ruthie’s Kitchen, Martha’s Eats and Treats, Crack of Dawn Artisan Breads, and Rebecca’s Greek Kouzina.  Maria’s Taco Hut serves freshly made and wholesome Mexican food.

Watercolors, photographs, handcrafted leather goods, ceramics, glass art, hand crafted accessories, and jewelry are among the art and fine crafts for sale.  (For a complete list of the vendors scheduled for this Saturday visit www.RiverwalkMarketFair.org.)

Naturals by Melissa Homemade Natural Beauty Products

            Melissa Valentyn’s husband grins when she says that she tries out all her beauty and cleansing products on herself and her family first.  “Yep” he says.   Melissa herself has skin that is sensitive to perfumes, dyes, and other ingredients often found in beauty and personal products.  Her formulas for skin scrub, hairspray, make-up remover, laundry soap, lip balm, a hand lotion bar and other products are all free of perfumes, dyes and other allergens.  Her gentlest skin cleansing formula is a heavenly smelling concoction of cocoanut oil and brown sugar to make a cleansing scrub. 

Christopher Casper of Emergent Visions Photography

            Photography is Christopher Casper’s third vocational incarnation. Originally a professional classical musician, Christopher then worked in the computer industry.  Now he has turned his artistic sensibility to photos that capture the stark beauty of landscapes and abstract close-ups.  Casper names Ansel Adams as an inspiration and it shows in his spare, clean images of South Dakota’s badlands and the gray-green hills and water of the Pacific Northwest’s Inside Passage.  Read about Christopher’s artistic vision and his transition from aural artistic perception to a visual one at http://www.emergent-visions.com

Musician Tim Fast and a Duck Game for Kids.

            Tim Fast could be a character in one of the songs he writes and sings – a dust-covered man who has traveled the roads in search of a song over the next rise. That sense of adventure has given him a catalog of great original songs that have touched audiences from coast to coast and from his native Minnesota to the Texas Gulf Coast.  "I know how to write a good song and know when it works, but in the end the audience lets me know," Tim says.  A line like that might sound boastful coming from most people, but Tim is too disarming to come off that way. The proof comes in his 150-plus performance bookings a year.  We’re thrilled that one of Tim’s gigs will be Riverwalk Market Fair next Saturday.

            The Prairies Edge Human Society will provide the Riverwalk Market Fair youth activity this Saturday.  It’s a duck pond – pick a duck, win a prize.  Kids and adults can also learn about the upcoming Susan Perry Walk for the Animals and micro-chips for pets. 

About Riverwalk Market Fair

Riverwalk Market Fair is a Saturday open-air market located on Bridge Square in historic downtown Northfield.  This one-of-a-kind European-style market is open Saturdays from June through October. Each Saturday features a different combination of organic and sustainably grown produce from local farmers, artisan foods, seasonal flowers and a juried selection of the region’s top art and fine crafts including ceramics, art works, prints, photography, glasswork, textiles, wearable art, garden sculpture and hand-crafted jewelry.  Hours are 9 am to 1 pm rain or shine.  For more information, visit Riverwalk Market Fair at www.RiverwalkMarketFair.org.