Tea & Poetry to light up Sisters Farmers Market on Sunday, September 22
Care to blend your own herbal teas while your kids play poetry games? Join a free creativity workshop after shopping for super-fresh local veggies? Taste-test some chai? If yes: come on down to Tea & Poetry at Sisters Farmers Market on Sunday, September 22.
Krayna Castelbaum has led "poetry playshops" in Bend every month for the last eight years. "People come because whether you're a fledgling or an experienced person with the creative process — it's for anybody," she said. A transformational coach and "creative instigator," she encourages everyone, including non-writers, to play for its own sake.
Krayna Castelbaum, poetry playshop leader
"If you're pulling up a vegetable from the ground, there's the roots, there's all the dirt hanging off the roots," she explained in a metaphor. The writing that emerges in a playshop is "your first impulse. Maybe it is finished, but it's not a product." Poignant, authentic writing often emerges.
Castelbaum will lead a free playshop at 11:30 a.m. at Tea & Poetry this Sunday, September 22 at Fir Street Park in Sisters, during the farmers market. Other activities include a Deschutes Public Library poetry booth for kids, a haiku contest for all ages, and performances by Sisters Ukulele Group. Tea & Poetry is co-presented by New Oregon Arts & Letters and Sisters Farmers Market.
Blend Your Own Herbal Teas
Mountain Rose Herbs donated materials so that market-goers can mix up their own herbal tea blends to take home and enjoy over the long winter. During their tea blending experience, participants are encouraged to share or listen to poetry that moves them. The activity was inspired by Sisters resident Katie Diez and will take place on the Songbird Stage.
Food & Farms Haiku Contest
The State of Oregon's official poet laureate, Kim Stafford, will judge the Food & Farms haiku contest. Prizes for contests include gift certificates to Bedouin clothing store, Suttle Tea teahouse, Jackson's Corner restaurant, Metolius Artisan Teas, Paulina Springs Books, and microlocal farms Seed to Table and Mahonia Gardens. Winning haiku will also be published in The Nugget Newspaper.
Those wishing to enter the contest in person should drop by Paulina Springs Books by 2 p.m. September 18. Out-of-town folks can enter the contest online for a small fee, using the URL http://tinyurl.com/foodhaiku-submittable. Last-minute entries for additional prizes (with a different judge) will be accepted in person at the farmers market on Tea & Poetry day, September 22.
Through the Very End of September
Sisters Farmers Market runs 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Sunday through the end of September at Fir Street Park. The park is located one block north of Cascade Ave./Highway 20 at the corner of E. Main and N. Fir St.
Handcrafted goods, wood-fired roasted coffee, and microlocal produce grown just blocks away are among the products on offer at the market. Look out for lunch, lemonade, and raw vegan desserts, among other treats. Kids' activities are featured every week, along with music and workshops for all ages. Kids also enjoy the park's splash pad fountains on hot days.
Special Programs
Special programs like Tea & Poetry are funded in part by grants from the City of Sisters and the Roundhouse Foundation. Many thanks to them!
In-kind donations from Xpress Printing, The Nugget Newspaper, and the design and branding firm Plazm helped turn the market around this year, moving to a successful new day and time. Sponsorships from Cottonwood Cafe, Metabolic Maintenance, She Soars Psychiatry, and Jane McGowan nonprofit counseling help fuel the market, along with community volunteers.
New Oregon Arts & Letters, the event's co-presenter, is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization founded in 2001 in Portland, Oregon. Sisters Farmers Market is a nonprofit entity operating under the fiscal sponsorship of SPRD, Sisters Parks and Recreation District. Find the presenters online at neworegon.org and sistersfarmersmarket.com.