Cordova Saturday Market shut up shop on Feb. 8, 2020. Now, more than 13 months later, the Masonic Hall will again host the monthly event.
The market is scheduled for noon-4 p.m. on Saturday, April 3. The market will then take place on the third Saturday of each month, with the exceptions of April and of May, when the market will take place May 8, the day before Mother’s Day.
“I don’t know if we’ll ever get back to normal, but we’re moving in the right direction,” said lead organizer Jessicca Morningstar.
The market offers a venue to small businesses that don’t have their own storefronts, Morningstar said. The April 3 market will feature returning vendors such as chef Altana Hamilton, and Nancy O’Hare, who is known for her quirky crocheted figurines. First-time vendors tentatively expected to participate in the April 3 market include Bhren’s Pinoy Food and Merienda, a Filipino pop-up restaurant; and The Little Glass Garden, a business that produces delicate jewelry with botanical imagery.
The revived Saturday Market will feature a suite of anti-coronavirus measures, said Morningstar, who also works as an outreach and enrollment specialist at Ilanka Community Health Center. Tape will be used to mark the areas where customers should stand while perusing vendors’ inventories, she said. Tables will be spaced 6 feet apart, and the hall will be ventilated using fans and open windows. Morningstar will also stand at the door to make sure the event follows occupancy rules.
“I don’t mean to have a bouncer at the Saturday Market!” she laughed.
The Cordova Chamber of Commerce donated masks and sanitizer that can be distributed to the public, meaning that no customers will have to be turned away for lack of a mask, Morningstar said.
“The Saturday Market is a great venue for Cordova’s burgeoning entrepreneurs and a fun way for Cordovans to support local businesses,” said Cordova Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Cathy Renfeldt. “We are excited to see it returning this spring and look forward to working together with them in 2021 and beyond.”
