Though the rain was pouring down on Saturday, April 2, it could not dampen the spirits of the vendors and customers who gathered at the Bellingham Farmers Market on the opening day of the season.

Isabelle Nagel-Brice happily sold potatoes, hazelnuts, cabbage and more produce at the Broad Leaf Farm.

“It’s important to buy local because you are supporting the farmers that keep us alive,” Nagel-Brice said. “Taste is also important. At the farmers market, people can get food with the most optimum nutrition levels and taste.”

Nagel-Brice said she knows how happy everyone is to get fresh, local,  and organic food.

“It’s a great working environment and a great way to spend a Saturday with people who enjoy the same things,” she said.

Western students were among those who turned out to buy some local goods and share in the excitement of opening day.

“(The market) is important because it’s not Wal-Mart,” said Lizzie Lamb, a Western junior. “It bypasses the whole storefront idea because it’s different every week.”

Lamb said shopping at the market is one of her favorite things to do, partly because of the entertainment provided by buskers and seeing the relationships they develop with their audiences.

Western alumnus Daniel Sloan is one of the buskers who adds to the fun atmosphere at the market with his act, Wonder Struck. He stood in the cold and displayed his contact juggling skills by sliding a glass orb effortlessly across his hands and body, making the orb seem as if it were floating.

“It’s wonderful to see the same beautiful people from the community coming back and meeting new friends,” Sloan said.

The farmers market certainly attracts people from all walks of life – each with their own stories to tell.

Standing just over five feet tall, Pat Hirschkorn, a veteran vendor at the farmers market, greets each customer who comes to her stand with a smile.

Hirschkorn has been a vendor at the farmers market for eight years since opening Fun Funky Flora, her stand, with some doubts in 2003.

“When I first came down to the market and saw all the competition,” she said, “I thought I was so out of my league. I didn’t think I could compete with the big boys.”

So she decided to do something funky. The evidence is all around her stand. Her custom moss creations are planted in an assortment of containers including children’s rain boots, discarded decoy ducks and miniature wheelbarrows, among other items. She sells her garden art, or “funky flora,” to anyone who wishes to liven up their surroundings.

“I’m an old person with very limited income,” she said. “This stand keeps me off welfare and provides me with a little more money.”

The farmers market doesn’t only have fresh produce and crafts. There are also a number of vendors serving up hot, fresh meals. The enticing scent of grilled salmon lured customers to Fairhaven Bay Seafood booth.

“All of the fish is local or from Alaska, and it’s all wild,” said Anastasia Bowen, a Western senior and employee of Fairhaven Bay Seafood.

Bowen said buying local feels better because the money goes right back into the local community and helps support an industry that creates many jobs.

Vendors and customers are only part of the formula that makes the Bellingham Farmers Market happen each week.  While the farmers market opened at 10 a.m., a team of staff members and volunteers arrived at 6 a.m. to prepare for its opening by helping set up booths.

Rick Alcantara, the Bellingham Farmers Market site manager, is the man in charge of said duties. One of Alcantara’s responsibilities is to assign vendors to stalls and assist them in any way he can.

“This is probably the healthiest food you could ever purchase, from farm to table,” Alcantara said.

The Bellingham Farmers Market is located in downtown Bellingham on Railroad Avenue and East Chestnut Street.

It is open Saturdays 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., April through Christmas, and, as proven, on Saturday – rain or shine.