Vendor questions Farmers Market rules

By Steve Moyer

Nevada Daily Mail

The Nevada Farmers Market offers fresh produce, crafts and baked goods and there are plenty of vendors and plenty of customers for the merchandise -- but one local vendor now has a beef with with the way the market operates.

Sherry Winter joined the group, hoping to have a place to sell her baked goods, but her $2 loaves of bread soon had her involved in a dispute with the group that operates the market that ended with her relinquishing her booth at the market.

"The first day I had my bread and everything already packaged with prices on them when I went there," Winter said. "I felt that I was charging a fair price for everything, and I enjoy baking, so it was a good price for me. I want to offer people some really good bread. The first time I set up I had breads, cakes and pies and there was no problem. The second time they told me I had to sell my bread at $3 a loaf, which I thought was too high. Then it started raining, so I left instead of changing my prices," Winter explained.

Winter said she felt the rules were being applied in a haphazard manner; but Linda Gollhofer, market manager, denied that charge but also said the rules and prices Winter questioned aren't in writing.

"I asked for a copy of the prices and I was told there wasn't one. I asked about a copy of the rules and I was told there wasn't one. I asked about when the board meetings were and who was on the board," Winter said. "How can you know that you are being fairly treated if they don't have that written down for everyone to see?"

Gollhofer explained that the group is a non-profit group and that they don't have the resources to print up price lists.

"We just don't have the money to do that," Gollhofer said. "We don't have a printed up list, we never know from week to week how the produce is going to be, whether there will be a lot of good quality produce or a small amount of not-so-good produce. We pretty much get together and set the prices each week."

Larry McCoy, who sells his vegetables on his brother's property across the street from the new location of the farmer's market, isn't impressed with the group.

McCoy said. "I just don't like it. They regulate it too much. They make people wait to set up all at the same time. I have a lot of older people come in here and they get out and around early. By the time the farmer's market is up they've gone home."

McCoy has been in the same location many years and said he has been approached by representatives of the market who have suggested he set his prices the same as theirs. "I don't tell them what to do and they better not tell me what to do," McCoy said. "I'll sell when I want, and I'll put whatever price on it I want. It's nobody's business but mine."

Sherry Baker, a Farmer's Market board member, said that it was Winter's behavior that was at issue.

Baker said, "The behavior was the problem, she came down and stood in front of my booth at the busiest time of the day and yelled and screamed. That's the reason she was kicked out. We just gave her her money and asked her to leave."

Winter denied yelling at anyone and that she didn't go to Baker's booth, but instead went to Gollhofer's booth. "I went down to Linda Gollhofer's booth and made a suggestion. I suggested that when she invites people to the market she should have a printed price list and to have it posted, and she thanked me," Winter said.

Leslie Keller was at the market and witnessed Winter taking down her booth, but didn't see any loud altercation. "She was upset," Keller said. "She wasn't screaming, she was talking to people because they asked her what was going on and she acted offended. If it happened to me I would act offended, too."

Keller said that she thought it was unfortunate that a compromise couldn't have been reached between the two parties.

"Sherry could have gone up 50 cents and the other lady could have come down 50 cents and they could have met in the middle," Keller said.

Keller said she thought it was a shame that the incident occurred because she had been going to the market for several years and hadn't seen anything like it before.

"It's going to cause a lot of friction," Keller said.

Another complaint leveled against Winter was that her mother was with her at her booth. "There were two people at her booth and they were together but they would only pay the one price," Gollhofer said.

Winter said that her mother helped her set up the booth. "It takes two people to set up one of those canopies, I needed the help," Winter said "She was just there to help me out and I was the only one who was selling things. There were other families there and they didn't have to pay extra."

Gollhofer felt the group did the right thing. "We felt we were within the guidelines of our rules."