VoK: Earth day in downtown Kirkwood

Colleen Williamson

We’re twins, and our younger brother and sister are twins, and I have triplets. Our string band, Sadie Hawkins Day, has played this market for several years. We play the “Toons at Ten” every weekend. We’re sort of like old-timey, kind of bluegrass but not officially bluegrass, and we throw in some country and older pop songs. I’ve been playing since I was about 15. I started on my own and played in bands until we realized we needed a bass player, so I made [Anne] pick it up. Doing this together is great, it’s so much fun when you can share music with other people. My favorite set we’ve ever played might be here at this market. When my son was born we had a gig here, when he was three days old. My mom was holding him and when we were playing, it was like I was playing to him. That’s a lovely memory in my mind. All my boys love music, and I would hope that they would all play instruments. Maybe they’ll join the band someday.

Anne Williamson

I only started playing the bass about eight years ago. Our mother is a singer. She loves to sing, and she knows the words to just about every song ever written. She’ll pull out lyrics from a song from the 20s and be able to sing it and remember it from her childhood. I’m not that good with lyrics, but music has always been so special [to me.] There’s nothing finer than sitting on the front porch on a gorgeous day, just playing music and singing. We’ll be playing at the farmer’s market a lot this summer, from April to June.

Meg Murphy

Jeannie Saffa

I face paint occasionally, it’s kind of a hobby. There’s a couple of kids that come back every single weekend, so I learn their names, what they like, and what they don’t like. You really get to know some kids, and I like to think I let them be something new for a little while.

Annemia Miller

I’m here visiting from Memphis. My granddaughters, they’re from Kirkwood. This is Vivian, she’s four and Evelyn, she’s two. I come to town pretty often for birthdays and holidays. I’m here now for Easter weekend and next weekend. They don’t know this yet, but it’s Grandparents Day at their daycare. Evelyn’s a tomboy, they both are really, they’re great kids. I missed coming to this farmers market in winter time when I was here. Every Saturday morning, the first thing they say is “Can we go to the farmers market?” It’s always a magic house or farmers market. My favorite thing here is the music. Two years ago, I brought Vivian here and she would dance to the music completely uninhibited. Now she gets a bit embarrassed.

Vivian Miller

I like coming to the farmers market. My favorite thing is having a dance party. I love dancing to music and doing somersaults.

Don Cole

I work here for Summit produce at Kirkwood Market. I’ve been here for 25 years and I like being outside selling fruit and flowers. I started guarding Christmas trees at another location in 1995. I was set up there all night, I was going to school at the time so I would do my homework and set up and guard the Christmas trees. Now, I work here at Summit, selling plants from greenhouses all around the area. I could tell you all about the product, but with the plants, I’m still learning. We’re getting home-grown asparagus this week, that’s exciting then homegrown strawberries, and from there on all the fruits and vegetables start coming in. My favorite thing about working here is to see all the different people.

Meg Murphy

Gerbera and Prisma

We are here for Earth Day, just to say hello to all the kids. We do these kinds of events on most weekends. We love making people smile, that’s probably my favorite part. Interacting with everyone is like constant improv because kids say all kinds of things and you always have to be ready to respond in character. We’ve had kids cry before because they’re so starstruck to see you they’re overwhelmed. It’s not a sad cry, it’s a happy cry because they watch the movies and they never think they’re ever going to meet their favorite characters.