Sustain Coastal hosted the first farmer’s market of the semester on Prince Lawn Sept. 13 where students and Conway residents shopped and enjoyed various booths and vendors.
A plethora of handmade items including jewelry and sculptures were showcased. Additionally, local farmers gathered to sell their produce including vegetables, fruits and starches.
In addition to raw produce, ready-to eat food and drinks were also available. Lynne McFall, co-owner of The Wellness Bar, offered health shots and cold-pressed juices. She said her passion for her work comes from a place of personal experience.
“Growing up I was always given processed food, food with a bunch of dyes and preservatives in it,” McFall said. “So, one of our goals is to just offer a little bit of different healthy options for people.”
The Wellness Bar is one of the first cold-pressed juice bars in Myrtle Beach and every employee is nutrition certified, or on their way to becoming certified. She said one of her favorite parts of the job is helping people create healthy habits in a delicious way.
Similar to the juice bar, Ryan Hagan, owner of Hagan Trading Post, uses personal experience from his life as well. He makes engraved wood products and said he’s been around woodworking since he was a child.
“My dad was a woodworker [and] my grandfather,” Hagan said.
He said he has been doing his business professionally for the past three years, ever since the start of COVID-19. This was Hagan Trading Post’s second year at the farmer’s market.
Another vendor, Samson Glass, is owned by Chad Samson. Samson has been creating blow glass work for the past 25 years and teaching it for 15. At this year’s market, he offered handmade oceanic and plant glass art.
He said he loves watching the students’ eyes light up at his work.
“It’s not as easy as it looks,” he said. “You can do something that takes 10-15 minutes and then you can do one of these sculptures that takes three days.”
Samson has his own private studio where he teaches classes open to students, located across from Coastal Grand Mall in Myrtle Beach. To learn more about his classes, visit https://samsonglass.net/wp/
There are more chances to see plenty of other vendors this semester, with the next two farmer’s markets taking place on Oct. 11 and Nov. 8.
