SUNDRE – Courtesy of a new initiative introduced earlier this month by the municipality, vendors who are so inclined can set up their own table to display their wares free of charge at an outdoor market on the west side of town.
“They don’t have to have a business licence; vendors can pop in the day-of and if there’s tents available, they can use them for free,” said Moe Fahey, who this past May was hired on a short-term basis as events and festival coordinator with the Town of Sundre’s community services department.
“They just got to bring their own table and their product,” Fahey told the Albertan.
The inaugural and trial West Side Pop Up Market started on Thursday, Aug. 1 and runs weekly from 3:30 - 7 p.m. until Sept. 5 on the boulevard south of Highway 27 and north of Main Avenue across the road from the municipal office along the multi-use asphalt path.
The location, she said, seemed the most suitable and accessible to best accommodate visitors who might be travelling through town during the busier summer season.
“I thought out on the west side there, so many campers go by,” she said. “In town, they really got no room to pull over with their trailer.”
The canopy tents had been in storage and are now being put to use for the outdoor market with town staff setting them up and later taking them all down, she said.
“It’s tremendous,” said Sundre resident Barry Lloyd, one of the vendors and a woodworking artist who makes carvings using a scroll saw to create finely-detailed pieces, referring to the municipality’s effort involved in both setting up and later taking down all of the tents.
As to whether the new outdoor market will become a permanent summer fixture, Fahey said, “We don’t know until next year. This is just a trial to see if this goes in Sundre.”
Fahey said she was hired not only to help local organizations put on events but also find ways to build bridges with the community by offering more activities for both residents and visitors to partake in.
“To bring citizens together is what my big goal is,” she said.
“I’ve been a volunteer in this town for over 35 years,” she said, adding she throughout that span of time has established an extensive network of contacts from local companies to community organizations.
Since getting started this spring, Fahey said other projects she’s been involved with have included helping to organize the Sundre parade in June as well as a bike rodeo in July with the Sundre Daycare that brought out 62 kids including some participants from Rocky Mountain House.
“I’ve been trying to put on one event per month until December,” she said, expressing enthusiasm for the plans she’s currently working on for the Christmas season.
“I’m all about bringing the community together; I just love it.”
Linda Nelson, the municipality’s chief administrative officer, said in response to follow-up questions that council had previously approved the contract position “to attract people to our community and to provide opportunities for some of our local vendors with the idea that any tourism-related projects must also benefit our local residents.”
While there are currently 10 tents available, Nelson said there remains the possibility of further expanding depending on demand.
“If this initiative is successful and well received by Sundre residents, we may purchase more next year,” she said.
