The moment that captured the Mueller farmers market's 15th anniversary wasn't the bluegrass band or the free birthday cake or the mayor's proclamation. It was the line — stretching from the Batch Craft Soda stand past the tamale vendor, looping around the honey booth, and ending somewhere near the kettle corn — at 9:30 on a Sunday morning in March, with 3,200 people browsing, buying, and bumping into neighbors they hadn't seen since last Sunday.
"This is what local news people talk about when they say 'community gathering,'" said market manager Patricia Delgado, gesturing at the crowd from behind a folding table stacked with anniversary tote bags. "But we don't call it that. We call it Sunday."
The market, which opened in March 2011 with 22 vendors and a few hundred visitors, has grown into one of Central Texas's largest weekly markets. Sunday's anniversary celebration featured 87 vendors, live music from three local acts, a kids' cooking demonstration, and a timeline display showing photos from every year of the market's operation.
Vendor highlights included the debut of a new Mueller-grown hot honey from Bee Squared Apiaries, a limited-edition 15th anniversary blend from Cuvée Coffee, and the return of Dai Due's breakfast sausage — which sold out by 10:15 a.m.
"I've been coming here since year one," said resident David Kim, who moved to Mueller in 2010. "My daughter was in a stroller. Now she has her own vendor booth — she sells hand-poured candles. That's the kind of thing this market makes possible."
The Mueller farmers market operates every Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the intersection of Philomena Street and Aldrich Street. The next special event is the Plant Swap on April 6.