Tag Archives: Tote

Bring Your Neighbor = Free Tote

26 Aug

One of our missions at the Woodbine Farmers’ Market is to foster community. It’s too easy to sit inside your house these days and never meet your neighbors. Now that the weather is nice, we thought we would motivate you to get out and meet your neighbors. If you bring a neighbor to the Market in the next 2 weeks, you get a free tote bag. Just stop by our booth and introduce them to us.

Here are some pointers on how to do that:

Approach People

  • Unless you live in a ghost town, chances are that you’ll see people walking in and out of the apartments and/or houses nearby. These people are called your “neighbors.” They also represent socializing prospects, so suck in your shyness and say hello.
  • The Spotting. Check out your neighbor from a distance. Is she pushing a baby carriage with one hand and trying to keep screaming kids at bay with the other? If so, now may not be the ideal time to approach her. On the other hand, if your new neighbor is whistling as he moseys inside, hands down in his pockets, smiling at nothing in particular, the timing is probably right.
  • The Approach. Don’t sneak up on your neighbor. Walk in view of her; even wave as you approach. This may sound obvious, but think about how freaked out you’d be to talk to someone who scared the living daylights out of you.
  • The Greeting. As soon as you reach your new neighbor, introduce yourself in whatever way you feel comfortable. “Hi, I’m Sam. I just moved in,” is fine (if your name is Sam, that is). Unless your neighbors are complete social misfits, they will pick up the slack at this point and offer an excited, welcoming reply.
  • The Conversation. Keep the conversation steered toward common ground: living in the area, neighborhood activities, things to do about town. Invite them to the Farmers’ Market. Most importantly, watch for signs that your neighbor is finished talking. Don’t keep her there any longer than she wants to be there. And don’t start asking invasive questions about your neighbor’s personal life. In good time, you’ll learn more private details. A nice, quick conversation involving something like “There’s a great new Farmers’ Market down the street on Tuesdays, I’d love to meet you there and grab a lemonade” will be fine.
  • The Exit. Regardless of what was said or not said, how you finish it off is the most important part of “being friendly.” Leave your new neighbor thinking that you are relaxed, easygoing and someone he is going to look forward to running into at a later date. If you followed these steps carefully, odds are, your new neighbor is going to say something like, “Hey, I’d love to join you at the Market. What time should we meet up?”
  • Besides meeting and greeting people on the street, you could also “invent” a reason to talk to them. We like to call it the “cup of sugar” technique. Yes, it’s desperate, but it works. Just go up to your neighbor’s door (preferably at a decent hour) and ask to borrow a cup of sugar or some equally nonthreatening ingredient. Whatever the reason, seize the opportunity to start chatting your neighbor up, perhaps even inviting her over in a couple days to sample the cake/pie/whatever you’re making with the help of the ingredient you borrowed. (Remember to actually make the dessert, or they’ll be onto you.) If you borrow something, return it immediately. We’re talking within the hour.
  • Read more: How to Meet People in Your Neighborhood | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how-to_4845396_meet-people-neighborhood.html#ixzz0xiPTedCm

    • Free Tote!

    19 Jul

    Here at the Woodbine Farmers’ Market, we will be  constantly offering special promotions to motivate you to get out and shop local. Our first promotion will be an incentive to come for 3 weeks to the Market and get a free Woodbine Farmers’ Market tote bag!

    Here are the rules:

    • Show up THIS Tuesday to receive your punch card, and get your 1st Visit punch
    • Show up two more times before August 17th and get your card punched
    • On your 3rd visit, score your awesome free tote!
    • Limit is one tote per family

    See you tomorrow, and make sure to stop by the Woodbine Farmers’ Market booth to get your punch card and your recipe of the week.