CHELSEA — Shoppers milled about the North Common last Friday, visiting booths selling a variety of wares, from baked goods and lemonade to crafts and bouquets. One thing set the scene apart from a typical farmers market — most of the vendors were children.
The Kids Vend program at the Chelsea Farmers Market has been running for more than 15 years and usually happens about three times a summer, according to Market Manager Rossana Ines Rossi. Participating kids are required to have an adult chaperone, but otherwise they face few restrictions on what they can sell.
“The priority for me is that they get experience,” Rossi said.
Rossi finds young vendors by reaching out to local schools, libraries and parents. This year, about a dozen families signed up to participate in at least one of the three events.
“It’s pretty fun so far,” said Merritt O’Donnell, 11, of Tunbridge, Vt. Merritt was selling flowers alongside his sister Freya, 7, who was hawking her baked goods. Merritt’s bouquets come in small, big and giant sizes — $1, $2 and $3, respectively — and cool-looking sticks are on the house.
If you’re in the market for a bespoke poem, Gigi Lague, 11, of Tunbridge, Vt., writes them on demand using her 1960s Royal Astronaut typewriter. Gigi’s other creative pursuits, like watercolor greeting cards and clay miniatures, were also for sale.
“It’s fun to do what I love and be able to share it with people,” she said.
Linden Honeymeadow, 8, of Chelsea, Vt., likes to help out with their parents’ business, Free Verse Farm & Apothecary, but Kids Vend offered them an opportunity to have more responsibility and agency. Linden has been able to set up their booth how they like it and has been in charge of inventory decisions — they sold out of their “magic popcorn” too quickly during the first market and doubled the batch this time.
“It’s a good way to have some ownership over something,” Linden’s mom, Taylor Katz, said.
