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By Chris Walker (Contact)

Monday, July 14, 2008

Monday Conversation is an interview with a local person. This week’s interview is with Emporia Main Street director Kayla Oney, who talks about the Great American Market.

Q Tell us about the Great American Market.

A It will be downtown again, from 12th Avenue to the railroad tracks. The event will be Sept. 6 and will run from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Booth check is 5:30 a.m.

There will be a variety of vendors, everything from authentic foods to antiques to collectibles to arts and crafts items. Some organizations and churches use this activity as a fundraiser. Some groups use this event to raise awareness for their activities. Last year it drew about 5,000 people.

Q When can people start reserving booth spaces?

A It is never too early to get signed up for the Great American Market. People can sign up now — we have the booth vendor forms on our Web site at http://www.emporiamainstreet.com. It’s a $25 fee for a 12-foot by 15-foot booth space, and you are allowed to use up every single inch of that space. It is first-come, first-serve as far as how many vendors we have. Last year we had a record number.

Q What can people sell in their booths?

A People can sell anything they want. We do remind people that this is a family-oriented event.

Q What if people want to sell food?

A People can sell food out of regular booth spaces or they can put in to be a preferred food booth vendor. Preferred food booth vendors are located in the intersections of the side streets. The booths are a little more expensive but they are the size of two regular booth spaces and they have electricity. For people selling food, everything needs to be up to standards for the health department.

Q What is your favorite find at the market in previous years?

A The St. Catherine’s taco bus is always a popular stop for people. I would say the variety of food and the variety of items in general is the best part of the market. Another fun activity is in front of the First Presbyterian Church, where they have a kids area with a lot of things going on.

Q Any other activities at the market this year?

A The Emporia Arts Council will put on Chalk Fest, which is a lot of fun. It will be in the 900 block this year. It’s amazing to see all these people from very young to much older drawing on the streets. The Emporia Flatland Cruisers are going to be back with their car show. We will also have the brothers of the Third Wheel Trike Motorcycles club.

Q What are some of the other events Emporia Main Street is working on?

A We are working on a Grilling at the Market event. The Flint Hills Technical College, Emporia Main Street, Emporia Farmers Market and Emporia CVB are co-sponsoring the BBQ Queens. They will be doing a grilling demonstration on Saturday, Aug. 9 at the Farmers Market Kiosk. They are two ladies out of Lenexa and they are the Tiara-Toting Grilling Experts. They have a recipe book and they travel around doing shows. They make everything from main courses to desserts on Weber grills.

The neatest thing about this event is that every ingredient in their recipes is going to be purchased or donated from the Emporia Farmers Market or Emporia stores. It will run from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.. They will do two shows, which are estimated to last two hours. People can also come and go. We will also have main street food vendors and merchants featuring grilling products and outdoor entertainment products.