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Daniel Hendrix, 6, and his parents, Rainier residents Amelia and Aaron Hendrix, stop in the middle of Commerce Avenue to greet a curious Boston Terrier on the opening day of the Longview Saturday Market. Bill Wagner / The Daily News

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Saturday Market kicks off another season in style

Sunday, May 11, 2008 5:42 AM PDT

By Amy M.E. Fischer

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Despite gray skies and a chilly wind, opening day of the second annual Longview Saturday Market had the vibe of a summer festival.

Hundreds of people flocked downtown Saturday to stroll among the booths lining both sides of Commerce Avenue, which was closed to traffic between Broadway and Hudson Street. Vendors hawked breads and pastries, pet beds, birdhouses, garden ornaments and barbecue sauce. Flower sellers assembled lush bouquets of irises, lilies and tulips for last-minute Mother’s Day shoppers. Stroller-pushing parents crunched on candied nuts, admiring racks of handmade baby dresses and trays of jewelry.

“There’s a variety of everything. We were excited (the market) finally started. ... This has something for everybody,” said Longview resident Sundi Anonby.

“It’s fun,” said her daughter, 8-year-old Sara Anonby, showing off the flower painted on her cheek.

The sounds of a brass band and the smell of Kettle Corn got visitors’ blood pumping and tummies rumbling, while the sight of dozens of costumed dogs strutting by in the Valley Bugler’s Fifth Annual Pug Parade inspired feelings of puppy envy.

“I want that one!” a little girl cried out. She could have been pointing at any number of the panting, snorting, wheezing pugs dressed as princesses, football players, clowns, bikers, punk-rockers and lifeguards. There were pugs in Hawaiian shirts and grass skirts, pugs in denim skirts and wee cowboy hats, and even a pug in an elaborate Snow White costume.

Longview residents Sophia Lawler, 7, and her sister Naomi, 8, coordinated their outfits with their pugs, Chanel and Wilma. Chanel wore a leopard-print coat and pearls, and Wilma wore a red-and-white striped shirt.

“That’s the fancy lady and her sailor boyfriend. We didn’t have any other outfits,” said the girls’ mom, Christine Lawler, waiting with the crowd gathered in front of Farm Dog Bakery for the Pug Parade contest winners to be announced.

Down the street, car buffs admired the vintage Model A Fords parked at the intersection of Commerce and Broadway. At 1 p.m., visitors cleared a path as Longview’s founder, R.A. Long, puttered down Commerce in a 1923 Ford touring car with its horn blaring “Ow-ooogah!” (Long was portrayed by Dr. Travis Cavens, whose wife, Phyllis, played the role of wife Ella Long.)

Wearing 1920s boater hats, Mayor Kurt Anagnostou and city officials welcomed the Longs to the city’s 85th birthday celebration with a golden key to the city.

“It’s getting a lot harder to get here each year,” Cavens cracked. “You know, I was born in 1850. ... But 150 is the new 110.”

Afterward, they headed inside the Merk building for birthday cake and a screening of the new PBS documentary about the R.A. Long family, “Ours to Give.”

The market was conceived by the Longview Downtowners Association as a way to expose the community to downtown businesses. Last year’s market was set up on Broadway from 15th to 12th Avenue, but several downtown merchants on outlying blocks complained it didn’t benefit their businesses and even kept regular customers away. After taking a survey of downtown business owners, market organizers decided to hold this year’s market on Commerce Avenue to draw shoppers further into the heart of downtown.

Early Saturday afternoon, Angela Fields, a sales clerk for Dreamweaver Gifts, estimated she’d had 100 customers that morning, which is more than the shop normally gets in a day. Some people even made purchases, she said.

Patti Wilson, a vendor who sells her jewelry through Dreamweaver, set up a sidewalk table in front of the shop, which was smack in the middle of the market.

“People are interested, and they like my things, but the economy’s tight, and I realize that,” Wilson said. “You can’t expect people to buy jewelry if they can’t feed their family.”

A few yards away, Elaine Fosse and her sister, Suzi Lapinski, encouraged passers-by to sample their line of Fosse Farms natural salad dressings. The day’s sales were “excellent,” said Fosse, a Raymond resident who cut down her hours working as a paralegal to devote more time to her two-year-old business enterprise.

This is the sisters’ second season at the Longview Saturday Market, and they looked forward to coming back, said Lapinski, who lives in Olympia.

“I’ve had lots of return people,” Fosse said. “I’ve had people e-mail me to see if I was coming back.”

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clue wrote on May 11, 2008 1:37 AM:

" Perhaps someone will bring fourth a good local hand crafted micro beer, and show it at the Saturday Market. "

kelso wrote on May 11, 2008 2:40 AM:

" My dog and myself walked the market and found it real nice and relaxing, but it could use some more upbeat music maybe something from the 60s would be cool "

wish wrote on May 11, 2008 8:34 AM:

" I wish I had heard or known about the pug parade! I would have loved to been involved. I drove by and saw it happening and was disappointed that my pug didn't get to participate. I talked to a number of other people as well, and they said they didn't see anything in the paper or hear anything about it. The dogs were so cute and such a great day to open the market.... "

Scot Heisel TDN wrote on May 11, 2008 10:02 AM:

" Our preview of the opening day of the Saturday Market ran on Wednesday, May 7. We even had "pugs" in the headline. Sorry you missed it. The pug parade was a blast. Here's a link to the story. http://www.tdn.com/articles/2008/05/07/area_news/doc48212a9e5d2a9906488474.txt "

Tex from Cougar wrote on May 11, 2008 10:17 AM:

" While this is a nice, "feel -ggod" event, I think that it ditracts from the Go 4th activites that surround the lake, especially coming so close the the 4th of July. I think that this event underminds many of the merchants and much of the hardwork that has gone into the decades old Go 4th activites that this community takes so much pride in. There is only a limited amount of free time and extra income to spend on things, and I feel that it isn't fair to pull off such a similar event so close to the Go 4th. Maybe this event should be held in the winter as not to take away from Go 4th. "

Pug PARADE wrote on May 11, 2008 10:23 AM:

" It was soooooo much fun it was the 3rd year Ive brought my pug and we love it! Im glad the bugler kept it going after they changed ownership! "

Waste wrote on May 11, 2008 11:08 AM:

" What a waste of newspaper ink. With all the good things happening in our area you focus on this looser of an event. This market, hurts not helps most downtown businesses, just ask the owners. It is the property owners that can improve downtown by fixing their buildings. But guess what? They just want to milk them dry and expect the city to do it. Downtown is dead. Let it rest in peace. "

Louie wrote on May 11, 2008 11:12 AM:

" After visiting the farmer's market at the fairgrounds, which had a huge attendance, I found a parking place fairly close to Commerce and walked over to see what the downtown market had to offer. There was a nice variety of vendors and the market was much better at this new location. Not so much involvement with traffic as a pedestrian.
I enjoyed it and will go back. "

to TEX wrote on May 11, 2008 11:26 AM:

" What mix of chemicals did you ingest before enlightening us with this nonsense? This market, or any of the others which exist locally (realizing that you ARE not a local), have absolutely nothing to do with the Go4th activities. They may compete for business ONE SINGLE day a year true, but they also likely draw more total visitors on that day who enjoy more than one thing to do. Your stance that limited free time and money should be cause for shutting down local markets is pure rubbish and beyond ridiculous. "

Way to go Longview wrote on May 11, 2008 1:16 PM:

" Sounds like a great opening day and a great event. Sorry I was unavailable to attend. "

Get Over It wrote on May 11, 2008 1:17 PM:

" Downtown is not the heart and sole of our city. We are dumping tax payer money down a black hole while a few business and property owners benefit. "

Two cents Tex wrote on May 11, 2008 1:45 PM:

" We can't have anything the rest of the year because there's a flea market and I emphasize FLEA market at Go 4th. I've read some of the dumb posts you put forth, but I don't think they get too much dumber than that. If you don't want to attend don't, matter of fact didn't you like living up in Cougar? I served in the military 20 years and I never met anyone from Texas that wasn't an ignorant blowhard, sorry if the shoe fits, you wear it so well. "

To Waste wrote on May 11, 2008 2:07 PM:

" I'm glad you don't participate in the Saturday Market. There's no place for whiners or haters there. Its a fun event, and there are great things to buy that you can't get at Wal-Mart. Keep up the good work, Longview! (PS, I don't live in Longview and actually dislike it immensely, but I DO go to the Saturday Market!) "

Bear wrote on May 11, 2008 2:22 PM:

" A good start to a good season of Longview activities! "

disappointed wrote on May 11, 2008 2:40 PM:

" I attended the Saturday Market and found half the vendors from last year did not participate and was very disappointed. Will not be going back. "

Local musician. wrote on May 11, 2008 4:10 PM:

" I agree with Kelso. You need some more music. A live stage with local musicians would be great. The singers that were there were good, but who could hear them? They needed a public address system! Live music will bring in people, and not just old fuddy music. Let's hear some of you younger bands! They don't have to be as loud as Ozzfest, but they need to be heard. Also, how about some food vendors? I would love to sit and eat a hot lunch outdoors and listen to the ambience and live music. I know of a band that would love to play and probably for free! Thank you for reading this. "

Russian food fan wrote on May 11, 2008 6:12 PM:

" Last year the only reason I went to the market was to buy Russian food. When they stopped selling Russian food there, I stopped going to the market. Is there Russian food this year? "

re russian food fan wrote on May 11, 2008 10:58 PM:

" The only reason I went last year was for the doohickey thingamabobs from this hole in the wall place on the other side of the earth. When they left I did too. Are they back? "

vendor from afar wrote on May 12, 2008 11:35 AM:

" To Russian Food Fan: I am a vendor who participated in the initial day last year, also on Mother's Day weekend. I wouldn't have even known about it, except scouts for this event came to my booth at "one of the big city Saturday Markets" and offered me (and many others) free rent if I would set up in Longview that day. I have enough canopies and inventory to handle both events, so I placed a relative in my regular "big city" event, and set up for the day in Longview. I will not be back. This is not a swap meet, folks, and if you want quality vendors who can enable your event to grow and prosper, the shoppers need to stop comparing quality hand-crafted items with cheap plastic junk from China that can be purchased for next-to-nothing at that "big box store" on Ocean Beach Highway. While we love what we do, it isn't just a hobby for the vendors like me, and it is totally insulting to treat us as if this was a glorified garage sale. The space may have been free, but gas isn't and I can't afford to come back just for kicks. "

To local musician wrote on May 12, 2008 2:03 PM:

" They did have live music on a big stage last year, which was nice except the chairs in front of the stage were usually empty. They also had food vendors last year, and the tables in the food court were mostly empty. So they're trying a different format this year. There are several restaurants on Commerce Avenue, and some offer outdoor seating. "

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