A Family Affair

A Husband and Wife selling local produce at Farmer's Market



Husband and wife, Jim and Sylvia Thomas, come from a small town named Decatur, NE. Farming was all they knew growing up.

This is a story about a family starting a tradition and interacting with people from different cultures. It’s about gaining new experiences and meeting people that you never thought you’d meet, and having them share their whole life story in a matter of seconds.

Although farming has been a part of their lives as long as they can remember, Casey Thomas, their daughter, got them started with going to the farmers’ market. It all started with Casey selling pumpkins for Future Farmers of America, (FFA) a club for high school students that are interested in farming.

The Thomases saw an opportunity with the farmers’ market to sell more pumpkins, and decided to pursue it. Now they have been selling their produce for six years, even though their daughter does not sell with them anymore.

Just walking up to them, they invite you in, not only to purchase but to talk to them. Their voices are what catch you; you’ll hear something like good morning miss, is there something you need? This will be followed by a smile. They are the kind of people you want to talk to, even though you don’t know them.

For Jim and Sylvia hearing peoples’ life stories is one of their favorite parts of the farmers’ market. Socializing is also a big reason why they come back every year, but they say the money is nice too.

From being at the farmers’ market so long and talking with the customers as they walk by they get a bond with the usuals. Sometimes as people pass by Jim or Sylvia will stop one of them and talk to them because they recognize them from years past.

Jim and Sylvia are welcoming to everyone they come across, greeting everyone that walks by their booth. If you watch them for awhile you’ll notice that every person that stops in front of the booth is quickly welcomed, told good morning, or asked what they need to be helped with.

Jim talks about how especially unique it is to have customers from a different culture. Of course, there is a language barrier. Jim says he does not let that stop him from selling to them, it just makes it more interesting.
Due to the community of people, Lincoln’s farmers’ market is one of their favorites out of four other markets they attend. Another reason they say they prefer the Lincoln farmers’ market over others is the fact that it is more organized.

Part of the organization includes having to pay for your spot in the market. Most spots have to be reserved in advance to make sure you get one. Jim and Sylvia rent their spot for the entire season since they have produce to bring from mid-summer up until fall. In the summer they have corn, peppers, and squash. In the fall they have lots and lots of pumpkins. They say that pumpkins are their main product for the farmers’ market, as they have about 22 acres of them.

Most of the space that is available at the market is filled with other venders; some selling produce like the Thomsases, others selling clothing; the booth right next to the Thomases’ was even selling cat toys.
This is another thing Jim and Sylvia like about the Lincoln farmers’ market; there’s a lot of variety. During their downtime, they enjoy exploring the other booths and say they find something new and unique every year. It is ever-changing they say, and even slowly growing.

Despite the increase in competition for a space, there are a few open spots. If you want, you can rent one of these spaces for a day. It may take up to a few years for your booth to really take off though, so Jim and Sylvia recommend being persistent.

And in the end, the persistence pays off. You can see it in the fact that a particular man comes up, and Sylvia calls him by name because he comes back every year for their sweet corn. You can see it in the fact that the back of their truck is almost empty because most of their produce has been bought. Most of all, you can see it in the fact that when customers walk away from the booth, they have a satisfied smile on their face.

Our Experience

Arriving to the Farmer’s Market, Sami and I did not know who we were going to interview or even where to start. We started walking down straight from where we got dropped off, and we found a vender. That vender was Thomas Farms, which was run by Jim and Sylvia Thomas. Walking up to them we were nervous about how they would react, since the space was not very big. When asking to interview them, their words were yes immediately. Knowing they were willing to be interviewed was a relief off our shoulders. As we asked the questions they gave us above and beyond what that question was, which was a good thing so we could get to know them better. We both noticed how Jim looked us both in the eyes with questions we had. When things would get busy Jim would say excuse me for a moment instead of just walking away this was also a plus.

The second time we came back we were just watching how they act towards the people, and learning about who they are. During the 45 minutes we were there, they asked if we would be interested in helping them sell corn, they also gave us water, see generous. Well we told them we would help them, while yelling 4 dollars for 14 ears of corn, they smiled and got a lot more people at the booth. We successfully sold corn to at least eight people. For everyone we sold we got a dollar. The money Tiffanie got from selling corn she gave to a homeless person who happened to be part blind and was crippled. Sami spent her money on a nice refreshing Mtn. Dew, It was hot and she got parched. Also while spending time with Jim and Sylvia, when Jim was busy Sylvia shared story about how someone in her family had died of an aneurism. Then Tiffanie shared a story of how her mom had an aneurism two years ago in October. So it was good interaction with them.

One thing I forgot!

So this morning when we were done eating breakfast as in we I mean Aly and I. Anyways we were up in our room and we put our blinds up so we could see outside..I saw Scott walking soo I just started to wave, It seemed like he was looking right at me buut I have no clue if he seen us or not..and if he did makes me sad he didn't wave back...ooo well.

Later when we came back from lunch today we ran up to our room and Aly and I were messing around..like we always do. Well we finally figured out how to open the WINDOW!! Woohoo success! So the first thing I did when I seen people walking was oopen the window and yell..well it wasn't really a yell type thing it was a dieing goat as Aly would call it.

Ohh how I love being a roommate with Aly:)

The Story of Tiffanie

This is Tiffanie Shaw. She’s someone who will throw a potato olay out of the window at some random person and scream on the top of her lung “OLAY.” She may be outgoing, may be crazy, and may be extremely loud at times, but beyond all that she gives advice.

The first thing that strikes you about Tiffanie is her extremely loud laugh: a laugh with a snort when something is extremely funny, and a high pitch, sort of screaming almost, but not quite. Like this one time when her and her best friend Alyson were working the midnight showing of Iron Man 2, until 2 in the morning. While waiting for the movie to get out, they laid on the floor and made crazy weird quotes like: “It’s raining buttholes an asswipes.” After hearing this Tiffanie remembers rolling on the floor practically in tears.

This is a story about not only getting advice but giving it, it’s about figuring out the right things to say for a certain situation, it’s about her friends confiding in her. Her friends come to her in tears at times, not knowing what to do or what to even think.

Who is Tiffanie Shaw? She is a talker, a random person and crazy at times. Tiffanie can give advice from boy problems to serious matter, or to what shoes look good with an outfit. Tiffanie feels this way because she can get what people are going through; even if she’s going through the same thing, but not knowing what to think or do at times. Tiffanie says when talking about going through the same things, one thing comes to mind: It’s the fact that her parents are divorced, and when her friends come to her crying how their parents are going through that, she knows exactly how it feels: like who to live with, who’s going to care for all my needs and wants, who’s going to push them to strive to excellence.

It is July 21st 11:36 P.M., when Tiffanie got a call from her friend Taylor, who was upset about her and her boyfriend. Tiffanie said she could come over and talk even though it was so late. They talked for countless hours. All Taylor could say was “How could he hurt me like this, after this long we have been together Tiffanie, what do I do?”

Of course what makes Tiffanie interesting is, sometimes she feels like she needs advice, even if the situations might be the same she cannot use her own advice, she sometimes feels as if everyone is out to get her when it gets tough…

The Crazy Night

So after class Aly, Becky, Sami and I..oh and Lauren she didn't know where to go so she followed us. Well then we went to Blockbuster to look at movies, when I turned around Lauren was not there..WOAH! Where'd she go..well I still don't know that soo..
We ended not getting a movie, we said we would come back later...well then we had our meeting thingy..can you say YAWN! I mean i really did not care I wanted to get in the shower before they all got taken..well by the time I went into the bathroom..yep you guessed..all TAKEN!
Aly gave me her when she got done. WOOHOO! Then we went to our friends room.We talked about all the hot guys Macy got to take pictures of then Aly and I danced :) We looked at our old videos like the ones we made from the last day of school..it was frigging HILARIOUS!!!
But we came back to our room, hyper, then danced more. Don't you love dancing like crazy and stupid, but never dance like that in public? Now its 12 a.m. Aly and I are sitting here, she's reading the homework and I am writing this blog on paper:)
After a while we just started talking..just venting about everything that has happened in out life. It was good. Oh and I thought of this thingy me and Aly were trying to make funny..Like: Roses are red..Butthole are pink..Your armpit stinks..have a nice day..haha I know weird but funny!

Notice how we NEVER got a movie! and NEVER got ice cream:(

The Story of Lauren Parker

This is Lauren Parker. Lauren lives in Waverly, NE; in a house with fruits in her fridge. Lauren not only eats them, she also talks to them. But come to find out, the fruit talks back to her and carry on conversations.

The first thing that strikes you about Lauren is that she’s open and does not care what others think of her. Like the one time her and her friend were at the mall, Lauren went up to a random person and shouted, “Youu I wanna take you to a gay bar!”

This is a story about not having the fear to be outgoing and crazy when everyone is watching. Lauren could sit in dead silence and just make a joke or make something funny. While looking off into space you can hear laughter coming from her, imagining things like an elephant walking in the hallway.

Who is Lauren Parker? She is a fruit talker. While talking to fruit she gets advice and feels that they are honest about what they say. Lauren started talking to fruits when she was only eight years old, that fruit was an orange. During this conversation the orange said a joke, that joke was: Why do cows have bells? Because their horns do not work.

It is one evening while she was going to brush her teeth. She accidently knocked the toothpaste off the counter, Laurens first instinct was to pick it up and apologize. After apologizing, the toothpaste started telling her problems how, his wife has left him all alone.

Of course, what makes Lauren interesting is she is a Dancer. Not only in random times with her friends but in a dance class. She is in a hip-hop class and in a tap class also. So what’s the next thing she’s going to tackle..

Pizza Yum Yum

So we had pizza for supper yummmy! It was really good. Aly and I couldn't find a spot so we went to our room to eat our pizza:) While we were there we got all the dum dums we dont like and put then on our friends door well in-between the door and the thingy...well I really don't know how to explain it was it was funny. We also tryed to see if we could open our windows..welp it wasn't successful. Now we are trying to find someplace to get a BIG thing of ICE CREAM WOOHOO!!:)Hopefully we will find one because I love ICE CREAM!:) and so does Alyson..my roommate!

Typical Girl Lunch Day 1

At lunch everyone could hear many loud conversations being taken place. Laughter was among our table like a swarm of bees finding honey. Among all the things we could have talked about, it was how many of the guys on UNL campus were attractive...we're girls...what do you expect? And the conclusion came to..we found one..he kind of reminded us of a guy who graduated from Fairbury a while ago.