Vendors, shoppers prepare for winter market’s move to Dubuque’s West End

BY ALLIE HINGA allie.hinga@thmedia.com | Dec 22, 2019

Paul Opperman (left) and Kevin and Jade O’Connell (right), of O’Connell Organic Acres, work their booths Saturday at the Dubuque Farmers Market in the Roshek Building.

Michelle Doll (center left) and Joyce Doll (center right) work at their booth at the Dubuque Farmer’s Market in the Roshek Building on Saturday, Dec. 21, 2019.

Jim Baal has been selling his goods at the Dubuque Winter Farmers Market since its 2007 inception.
The owner of Baal Poultry Farm recalled the market’s earliest days in an old automotive shop building. The seasonal offering then spent years in the former Colts Center on Central Avenue.

Earlier this year, the market made the jump to its current location in the Roshek Building lobby, where it has continued to grow and expand.
“A lot of people want to know where their food is coming from,” Baal said. “(The winter market) gives them access to that.”
Now, organizers are preparing for the market’s next chapter ahead of a move to Kennedy Mall early next month. The first market at the new location will be Jan. 4.

Vendors and shoppers say the market provides a valuable way to support local foods outside of the hustle and bustle of the summer farmers market season. They hope to see that continue at the new location.

“I love it,” said Carol Nauman, owner of Chocolate Reflections in Dubuque. “There’s a lot of neat people that come down. … Winter market, I think, is great.”

The Roshek Building lobby bustled Saturday morning with shoppers stocking up on produce, baked goods and other wares from vendors. Flyers set out on various tables advertised the upcoming move.

Lynne Einarsen loaded up two grocery bags with her purchases. Einarsen, of Dubuque, likes to frequent farmers markets because she enjoys meeting the people there, shopping local and picking up high-quality products.

“The whole concept of this market enhances community,” she said. “I think it enhances humanity.”

Dylan Jacobson, of Iowa City, also stopped by the Roshek Building. He and his wife ran a pop-up gallery as part of the Central Express events held in Central Avenue Corridor this fall, so the two have been frequenting Dubuque. While in town, they discovered the winter farmers market.

They like buying local and supporting their community. While there are plenty of opportunities to visit farmers markets during the summer, it can be easy to end up shopping at chain stores during winter when markets are more sparse, Jacobson said.

That’s what makes the winter market a valuable opportunity.
“We’ve gotten to know some of the people here, so it’s definitely building a community that we want to become a part of,” said Jacobson, who is considering a move to the community this spring.

Just 11 months after organizers moved the winter market from its longtime spot at the former Colts Center, the market will open at its new home in the former Younkers men’s store at Kennedy Mall.

The move comes as Cottingham & Butler and Heartland Financial USA work to purchase the Roshek Building. Market manager Paula Connors said the new owners have plans for the space currently occupied by the market.

While Kennedy Mall will be untested territory, Connors hopes customers will follow the market to its new location and that vendors will find new customers on Dubuque’s West End.

As far as she knows, all of the market’s current vendors intend to set up shop at the mall. Once she and the other vendors get settled in, Connors will evaluate the possibility of adding vendors

“I’m really excited about the move,” she said.

Einarsen said she is a bit sad to see the market leave the historic downtown building, but the mall will offer better parking and will be closer to where she lives. She also hopes the new location will open up doors for other vendors to join.

“I think it’s going to be a great move,” she said.

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Music at the Mall gives Harrison County, WV, students an opportunity to shine

by JoAnn Snoderly STAFF WRITER | Nov 16, 2019

Students in the Bridgeport Middle School Jazz Band perform during Music at the Mall on Saturday at Meadowbrook Mall. | Staff photo by JoAnn Snoderly

The Bridgeport High School Orchestra performs during Music at the Mall on Saturday at Meadowbrook Mall.  | Staff photo by JoAnn Snoderly

BRIDGEPORT — Shoppers at Meadowbrook Mall were treated to musical performances by students Saturday during Harrison County Schools’ fifth annual Music at the Mall.

Seats were mostly full as hundreds of area residents packed into the event space in front of JC Penney to support the young performers.

Typically held in December, this year’s event was held early because of the shorter time period between the school breaks for Thanksgiving and Christmas, according to Nell Givens, Harrison County Schools music curriculum chairperson and a teacher at Bridgeport Middle School.

“The first Saturday in December is always ACT weekend, so that takes off every high school, and then the second Saturday is “Annie” at the Robinson Grand, and we didn’t want to conflict with that,” Givens said.

“It ended up working out because Santa Claus’ first day here at the mall is today, so it just puts everybody in the spirit,” she added.

However, the earlier date for Music at the Mall, combined with the late start to the school year, meant the young performers had much less to time to practice for the event, Givens said.

Despite that, the musicians consistently brought audience members to their feet.

Givens led her Bridgeport Middle School Jazz Band in a performance Saturday.

“We practice once a week during our homeroom time to prepare, and we had a couple of after-school rehearsals to help us get there quicker,” she said.

For Lincoln High School Jazz Band’s Mathew Kerns, the shortened practice window was particularly nerve-racking. Kerns, a sophomore who also plays the bass drum and auxiliary percussion, took up playing piano for the Jazz Band this school year.

It was his first-ever performance on the new instrument in front of a crowd, Kerns said.

“I started this year, and I really didn’t know how to play piano until I joined Jazz Band, and I’ve slowly been learning,” he said. “I’m excited and I’m nervous. I have a piano at home, and I sat there for an hour or two and practiced this morning. I’m pretty nervous, but I think I’ll do OK.”

Bridgeport Middle School seventh-graders Keira Klingensmith and Bria Smell said they were also excited and somewhat nervous.

Smell said she played in All-County Band last year, so she was used to the big crowd.

Klingensmith said she ignores the crowd at performances.

“I don’t really pay attention to the crowd. It makes me even more nervous,” she said.

According to Givens, the students look forward to Music at the Mall every year.

“The kids love playing in front of their family and friends, and it’s a great place for people who don’t normally hear us to hear us. At our concerts, it’s mainly friends and family, but here it’s whoever happens to be at the mall,” she said.

Music at the Mall gives an extra opportunity to show off students’ talents, said Fred Channell, director of the Lincoln High School Jazz Band.

“Whoever needs a concert at Christmastime, we’ll go out and perform for them. It’s a good way to just leave your area of the county so you see what other people have going on in your little community, he said.

The event also brings foot traffic into the stores at the mall, Givens said.

“You have to think that every school in Harrison County is represented,” she said. “There’s a lot of flow going.”

Channell said the support of the community and the Board of Education makes events like Music at the Mall possible.

“We’re very thankful as music educators to the Board of Education because they support the arts,” he said. “That doesn’t happen in a lot of counties.”

Givens agreed.

“A lot of counties just have your basic elementary school choirs and your basic high school marching band, but we have strings, a middle school jazz band that you don’t see a lot. There’s a lot of diversity that people may not be aware of,” she said.

Popular coffee chain opens new shop at South Hill Mall. The lines are long

BY JOSEPHINE PETERSON
NOVEMBER 04, 2019 06:05 AM, UPDATED NOVEMBER 04, 2019 06:05 AM

New Dutch Bros Coffee drive-thru opens on Pacific Avenue in Fife BY TONY OVERMAN
Expect more traffic than usual at South Hill Mall for the next few weeks as Dutch Bros fans wait in line for coffee and pastries.

The Oregon-based coffee chain opened its third location in Pierce County on Thursday at 201 39th Ave. SW, in Puyallup.

A South Hill Mall developer, Joe Corsell, said coffee lines have been long because of the brand’s loyal fan base.

Last few days, the responses have been big,” Corsell said.

The mall has designated workers to direct traffic as queues wrap around the parking lot.
Dutch Bros had been interested in expanding, and Corsell said the mall wanted tenants that people in the community wanted to visit, so it was a natural fit.

The drive-thru and walk-up store is on the JC Penney side, in the parking lot across from U.S. Bank.

Another site in the 8600 block of Steilacoom Boulevard Southwest is still early in the development process.


Dutch Bros opened a store at the South Hill Mall on Thursday. Customers can order by drive-thru or a walk-up window. SUBMITTED BY CAFARO COMPANY

JOSEPHINE PETERSON
253-597-8258
Josephine Peterson covers Pierce County and Puyallup for The News Tribune and The Puyallup Herald. She previously worked at The News Journal in Delaware as the crime reporter and interned at The Washington Post.