Local Activities: Fullerton

Posted on June 8, 2007 and filed under Uncategorized

Freeman Yoga
Lemon and Commonwealth, Fullerton
*Parent and Child Yoga First Sat of every month
*Pre-Natal Yoga on Tuesdays @7:30pm

The Fullerton Farmer’s Market By Sonja Stewart

When the first snow melts, and the tulips break through the last cold frost of the winter…wait a minute, I live in California. And currently, I have only had to pull out my jacket a few times this winter. As disastrous as global warming is, it feels good.

Anyway, the Fullerton Farmer’s Market is something my family looks forward to with an avid anticipation. Even before we had our little Josephine, we were attending the fair religiously. It was actually one of our first dates. So now the time has come again. And we are ready. It is the place to be on a Thursday afternoon. With train tours for the kiddies, pony rides for me, and a beer garden for dad, everyone’s happy. I can’t leave without a bag of kettle corn, fresh sugar snap peas from my favorite farmer on the end, (he and his daughter are sarcastic and lovely,) and a few handfuls of fresh herbs. Who knew grocery shopping could be this much fun? There are live bands that vary from the highly entertaining to the slightly annoying. But it’s worth watching the babies bounce along.

If you have a dog, bring it. Dogs, babies, parrots, cockatoos, whatever your pleasure, they’re welcome at this gathering of the locals. I’ve gotten the absolute best balsamic vinegar there, and the cutest skirt. The flowers are always fragrant and colorful. There is nothing mundane about the Fullerton Market. And you never know what you’re going to find.

It isn’t a place to go if you like being anonymous. No one in this town is for very long anyway. So come be a local and listen to music, munch on roasted corn, have a beer, and try not to trip over the hoards of families on your way to your produce purchases. In no time you’ll be building your dinners around your local, healthy, fresh buys. And even sooner still, you’ll become a regular. My favorite activity, other than the pony rides, is to sit near the spit fountain, (I’ve called those random ground fountains “spitters,” ever since I experienced them as a child in Fashion Island,) and watch the kids “try” to avoid getting wet by running through really fast. It reminds me of chasing the waves and running back to shore.

I had just moved from the landlocked state, Utah to California. I was nine and had never seen the ocean. Needless to say, it was love at first sight. I taunted the ebb and flow of the ocean until it eventually got the best of me and I walked back to my beached family, jeans soaking wet, sand in my hair, and with a smile a mile wide. The Fullerton Market is a lot like that.

Just as the tide comes in and flows out, this seasonal treat always seems to wash away before I’m ready to see it go. But like a nine year old, I stumble into the winter months with sand in my hair and a smile on my face. Stop by and see for yourself while it’s still here. It’ll awake the kid in you, too.

**The Fullerton Market is on Thursdays from about 6pm until it stops. It’s located on Wilshire in between Harbor and Pomona.