The Market of Milton feels community momentum after jam-packed opening night

Milton's Jernigan’s Landing was the place to be Thursday night for the newest community market: The Market of Milton.

Event organizer Allison Hartman said The Market’s first day exceeded her expectations, with 70+ vendors in attendance. Booths ranged from hand-carved cutting boards, to live pigeons, to bounce houses, to hand-spun kettle corn and everything in between. The only thing missing were the fresh produce vendors that Hartman hopes will increase as the season picks up.

“I am completely blown away. I didn’t even know this many people lived in Milton,” Hartman said Thursday. “This is like five times the amount that I expected, the line has been almost like a traffic jam at every point. So we've definitely learned we're going to sprawl out a lot more next time.”

The event will run from 5-8 p.m. every Thursday at Jernigan’s Landing where Bands on the Blackwater is held on Friday nights.

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How did the Market get started?

Hartman, who first launched The Market in Pace, sparked the idea for a community market from her teenage son, Ethan, when he was looking for a local place to sell his moringa trees. She thought if he was an entrepreneur without a place to sell his product, there were likely many others in a similar position. Now, she is running full-fledged markets in two cities.

“That seed was planted with that one moringa tree and look where it grew. I don't take credit for all this,” Hartman said.

After a chat with co-founder Jennifer Kaiser, the two decided there needed to be a place for the community to come together to sell their handmade, homegrown or handcrafted items.

Pace’s market was so well-received that the city of Milton approached her about replicating the same thing for their city, Hartman said. One of the major priorities for Hartman was to keep the market family-friendly when selecting vendors.

The Milton City Council gave Milton’s market the final vote it needed to launch, unanimously 8-0, in February.

When Thursday came around, shoppers strolled past sunset. Not only do the community markets encourage shopping and supporting local, according to Hartman, but give the community a place to come together.

“Just watching people throw a blanket down and have dinner and listen to some music and let their kids bounce… the feedback I've gotten so far has been amazing. People are so happy,” Hartman said. “One lady said, ‘Man, there's nothing to do in Milton.’ So, this is what we're going to start doing every week.”

Will the community continue to support Market of Milton?

The excitement endured for both vendors and visitors as the sun went down, and the string lights kicked in. Some were trying The Market out for a date night, while others were driven by the intriguing lobster grilled cheese served by the Cousins Maine Lobster food truck.

“I love seeing people come out and have fun and be like a community together,” Aubrie Thompson said.

Nicholas Tiedemann, who was enjoying a leisurely stroll along the grounds with his fiancé and dog, Boots, said he was pleasantly surprised to see how many people had an interest in The Market. Especially coming from his small community in Baghdad.

“I'm pretty surprised (by) how many people are here,” Tiedemann said. “This was pretty big. It's pretty cool.”

Even vendors busy working the event, like Milton’s Yasna and Fabian Invidiato, were not missing out on the fun.

The two make art together as a hobby, their booth garnished with stained wood patterns and intricately woven dreamcatchers, but hope to one day make creating their full-time career. They hope the increase in community markets in the county will help the public engage with their art more consistently.

“We’re makers, you know?” Fabian Invidiato said. “We want to start working more on this.”

The vendors for the Milton market will fluctuate, but Hartman said they should be able to handle about 120 vendors each week. The food trucks, however, will likely be limited to under a dozen.

More updates and information can be found on The Market Facebook page.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Market of Milton captures crowd with opening night