BUTTE — Thanks to the efforts of some makers here in Butte, you can now get your fresh fruits and vegetables, soaps and lotions, and even artwork at a new midweek farmers-market style community market at Clark Park.
"I’ve been making soap for nine years and I got into it because I was diagnosed with a medical condition," says Heather Wilson, of Silk Soapery.
Wilson uses clean ingredients like plant-based oils, activated charcoal, and colorful natural clay in her soap and body care items. She has been a vendor at farmers markets for three years, but now she is also a co-owner of the Butte Community Market along with her friend and fellow maker, Shannon Moyle.
WATCH: Midweek Market Magic: Butte’s Clark Park Hosts Fresh Finds and Family Activities
"We’ve got candles, we’ve got art, we’ve got self-defense keychains," says Shannon Moyle, co-owner of Butte Community Market. She runs through a list of items that are spread out in booths around the circular area that serves as a skating rink during winter months.
"Our farmers market is specifically focused on making sure that we have activities for kids, we have music, we have a themed event every week," says Moyle. Across the park, a giant bucket dumps water on kids in the splash park while other children swing at the playground.
Moyle says local organic produce and fresh cut flowers will always be a staple of the midweek market that offers vendors and shoppers an outlet that doesn’t compete with weekend plans, but the market also offers an economic boost to the community.
"It introduces local growers, local makers and it keeps the money local," says Wilson.
According to data compiled by the Butte-based national nonprofit National Center for Appropriate Technology and the University of Montana, a 2021 study of 71 Montana framers markets shows the markets received $17.3 million in revenue, generating an additional $10.4 million dollars in new spending that occurred as a result of farmers' markets.
"It’s essentially just a group of folks that like to support small businesses. We just heard that there was a need and we decided to fill it," says Moyle.
The Butte Community Market is a rain-or-shine event that takes place on Thursdays from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. through September 25th at Clark Park and offers different kids’ activities every week.
