06/10/2026
DOWNTOWN AF 3A: THE PEOPLE BEFORE THE PRODUCE
Every city has experts. DoctorsâŠLawyersâŠEngineersâŠAnd then thereâs Gary (Incredibly Delicious Cakes).
Garyâs specialtyâŠis parallel parking.
If you ask him nicely, heâll explain the process with the confidence of a NASA flight engineer preparing for launch. According to Gary, the problem is simpleâŠnobody listens.
âGet this close to the car. Wait until your door lines up. Turn the wheel. Trust the process.â
The man has taught this lesson approximately 47,003 times and has the enthusiasm of someone who just discovered parallel parking yesterday.
And honestly?
That feels like the perfect introduction to the Old Capitol Farmers Market presented by HSHS St. John's. Because on the surface, itâs about produce. Spend ten minutes there and you realize itâs actually about peopleâŠThe tomatoes just happen to be invited.
Most visitors arrive sometime after breakfast. Coffee in hand. Reusable shopping bag ready. Maybe a vague plan to buy lettuce and somehow leave with six pastries, a loaf of bread, and a plant they absolutely did not need.
What most people donât see is what happens before they get there.
While Springfield is still asleep, the people behind the market are already working.
For Cassie Grey-Sautelet, Associate Director of Downtown Springfield, Inc., market mornings begin around 5 a.m.
By the time most of us are deciding whether weâre going to hit snooze one more time, sheâs already solving problems.
A vendor needs electricity.
Someone suddenly needs more space.
Someone forgot to mention theyâre bringing a vehicle.
A baker canât make it.
A candle maker canât be placed in direct sunlight.
A carefully planned market map that was updated Friday evening has already become completely useless.
âThe map is trashed by market day,â she laughed.
Itâs a giant puzzle that gets rebuilt every single week. And while the market may look effortless from the outside, the reality is anything but.
People often assume vendors simply show up, pop open a tent, and start selling.
The truth involves permits, inspections, health regulations, logistics, scheduling, vendor coordination, sponsorships, street closures, setup crews, and enough moving parts to make your head spin.
âItâs basically a full time job,â Cassie admitted.
The funny part?
Running a farmers market wasnât exactly part of the plan.
Cassie was trained to be an architect.
Others on the Downtown Springfield team came from backgrounds in journalism, marketing, and community development.
None of them grew up dreaming of becoming professional problem solvers for wandering tents and last minute electrical requests.
Yet here they are. And they love it.
Because somewhere between the spreadsheets and setup maps, something bigger happens.
Community.
The Old Capitol Farmers Market is now in its 27th season, and over the years it has become far more than a place to buy vegetables.
Itâs become a place where generations overlap.
A place where friendships form.
A place where people show up because theyâve always shown up.
One of the stories that stuck with me involved a market manager who grew up attending the market as a little girl. Saturdays at the market were part of her childhood. Years later, she found herself helping run the very event she grew up loving.
That kind of full circle story isnât unusual here.
After nearly three decades, the market has woven itself into the lives of people throughout SpringfieldâŠThe proof is everywhere.
Itâs in the regulars who never miss a Wednesday or Saturday.
Itâs in the vendors who know their customers by name.
Itâs in the thousands of people who flood downtown every weekend.
And itâs in the way complete strangers somehow end up talking to each other.
Ask the Downtown Springfield Inc. team what the market means to downtown, and youâll hear words like catalyst, connection, and community.
Youâll hear about the foot traffic that supports local businesses.
Youâll hear about relationships that cross generations, careers, and socioeconomic backgrounds.
Youâll hear about people who swear thereâs nothing downtown, despite the fact that upwards of 10,000 people can fill the streets during a busy Saturday market.
And then youâll hear about programs like Link Match.
Last season alone, nearly $20,000 in Link Match benefits were used at the market, effectively doubling the buying power for families purchasing fresh food from local vendors. Itâs one of those things that doesnât make flashy headlines, but it mattersâŠA lot.
Because for some people, the market isnât just a Saturday tradition.
Itâs access.
Itâs affordability.
Itâs dignity.
Itâs food on the table.
Of course, not every market story is quite so seriousâŠSometimes itâs balloon animal drama.
One organizer recalled a man becoming inexplicably furious over a balloon artist, creating one of the strangest situations the market has ever encountered.
Nobody is entirely sure what happened.
Nobody is entirely sure why.
But somewhere in Springfield there is a man who apparently has very strong feelings about balloon animals.
Other memorable visitors have included a woman wearing a bearded dragon like a scarf, a cat riding in a backpack, and a trio of impeccably dressed whippets who arrive in matching outfits and reportedly step up their fashion game for Halloween.
Honestly, if youâre not attending the market for the produce, attending for the dogs is a completely reasonable strategy.
Yet perhaps my favorite detail from the entire conversation came after the market ends.
Hours after the tents come down and everyone finally makes it home, a group text starts lighting up.
The Downtown Springfield Inc. team begins sharing photos of what theyâre cooking with the things they bought from vendors that day.
Fresh bread.
Produce.
Treats.
Way too many baked goods.
Recipes get exchanged.
Dinner ideas get shared.
And for a few minutes, the people who spent the week helping make the market happenâŠget to enjoy being part of it too.
Thatâs when it clicked.
The Old Capitol Farmers Market doesnât start with produce.
It starts with peopleâŠ
People who wake up before sunrise.
People who spend countless hours behind the scenes.
People who care enough to keep showing up.
People who believe downtown is worth investing in.
Long before the tomatoes arrive.
Long before the bread sells out.
Long before someone asks Gary for parallel parking advice.
There are people downtown making sure all of it happens.
Most visitors will never know their namesâŠand thatâs okay.
Theyâd probably rather you know the vendors names anyway.
