Mark your calendars for next Saturday, July 18, for the first ever Pampa Harvest and Makers Market, a weekly event that will bring Pampa’s makers and bakers of all ages together to learn, grow, and showcase their talents to the community, and make some money while doing it!
Inspired by the beloved annual Lemonade Day event hosted by the Chamber of Commerce, which empowers young entrepreneurs to creatively build their own business while learning essential life and social skills, the Pampa Harvest and Makers Market wanted to extend that initiative to more than just one day of the year and give kids the opportunity to not only establish, but maintain their business endeavor.
“Our mission isn’t about putting on a massive show or anything, it’s about providing a safe location for our young entrepreneuers in this town to learn, to grow, to lead, and to earn,” said the director of Pampa Harvest and Makers Market. “I want a place for kids to be able to come together and learn from each other and learn from other business owners in town and to be able to ask questions.”
“We’re treating this underneath the Texas Lemonade law. Youth under the age of 18 don’t need permits to sell lemonade or trinkets. So the paperwork as it is is a simple application and we’re not charging them booth space, we have sponsors for them. When it comes down to it and we have a parent with a kid who loves to do art or 3D printing or freeze-dried snacks, but don’t have a pop-up tent or tables or chairs, we have the means and ways to provide those types of things for them. The whole idea is to help kids in this town who want to learn about commerce in any aspect.”
The space where the weekly event is to take place is the massive empty field next to the Community Christian School, located at 1633 N. Nelson, and it’s the vision of Pampa Harvest to completely fill that blank canvas with entreprenuers, new and established vendors, and food trucks for a day of shopping, learning and fellowship.
“They’ve got this big beautiful field here, and yes it’s used by the school, but nothing is going on during the weekend, so let’s multi-purpose it and have some fun with it. Let’s do something entertaining that is safe and gets people out of the house.”
With an entire field to utilize, Pampa Harvest and Makers Market has plans to go big, especially for their end-of-season celebration which will fall on Halloween this year.
“I want to see everybody out here in costumes. We have limitless opportunity here, so we can have our own version of a trunk or treat and we can have live music-there’s just so much space here! We’re looking for a sponsor for a family zone because we want to have yard games out here. We don’t want people to come out, look, and then just leave. We want this to be time spent with family.”
Pampa Harvest and Makers Market wants to reiterate that this is in no way a competition against the Pampa Farmer’s Market and is only providing an opportunity for makers and bakers of any age and any experience to come together, and allow the experienced vendors to teach the young vendors the basics of running a business.
“I want to challenge the youth and I want to challenge our adult vendors to sell. Our farmer’s market here has been running for eight years, and I think that’s phenomenal. The objective of this is not to harm them, it is to accentuate the options and opportunities in Pampa. The grand objective is to watch kids grow and succeed within the community and we think this is a great way to do it.”
Pampa Harvest is also looking to partner with local business owners and form a club called the Pampa Harvest and Makers Market Young Entrepreneuer Club where they will have the opportunity to interact and talk with the youth about all the elements of establishing and running a business.
“It’s all about making leaders. It’s about, ‘does my 9-year-old have the financial literacy to be able to succeed in the future?’ without making it like a classroom setting or parents forcing them to learn it. I want this to be a fun atmosphere area where the kids don’t realize they’re learning.”
So be sure to head out to 1633 N. Nelson next Saturday from 10 AM to 4 PM, and if you’re interested in becoming a sponsor or a vendor, message the market directly through their Facebook page, Pampa Harvest & Makers Market.
