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A Power-ful end to Mantecas Downtown Farmers Market
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Don Nash takes a closer look at the Victory motorcycles on display during Tuesday’s Farmer’s Market. - photo by JASON CAMPBELL
It might have been the last Farmer’s Market of the season, but that didn’t prevent throngs of people from turning out at Library Park Tuesday afternoon to enjoy the outdoor-themed activities that organizers spent weeks planning.

With everything from ATV’s to cruising motorcycles on display, in addition to the standard strip of local family farms offering fresh fruit and vegetables that ran the gamut, residents showed up en masse to take in the moderate weather and the last community outing of the summer in one of Manteca’s most popular parks.

Couple Jeremy and Kimberly Tucker didn’t get even get the chance to make it out of the parking lot before their two children, Cheyenne and Cody, were raring to join the crowd that had gathered along the street adjacent to the park and toward the playground equipment that included Manteca’s only interactive water feature.

It was the family atmosphere, Kimberly Tucker said, that brought the entire clan out for the final installment of the summer Farmer’s Market, something, she says, they’ve been attending each and every week.

“It’s one of the places that’s really geared toward families, and so you can go out and have a nice time and not have to worry about where your children are or what they’re doing. There are a lot of families out there that are keeping eyes on everyone’s children,” she said.

“They get the chance to play in the water feature and on the playground while we scan the fruit and do a little shopping. It’s fun for everybody who shows up.”

Sponsored by the Manteca Convention and Visitors Bureau, the weekly installments for the first time this year featured themed events that ranged from graffiti night to a guitar hero competition that drew nearly as many adults as children.

Tuesday’s theme was geared toward outdoor enthusiasts and those looking for a little bit of an adrenaline rush; it was showcased by the Delta Powersports exhibit that had everything on display from powerful Victory cruising motorcycles to Polaris ATV’s.

While he was eyeballing one of the shiny new Victory models, Don Nash was quick to point out why he enjoys coming out to the event every week.

“You get a chance to see all of the hard working people presenting their crops to the public,” Nash said. “I’m a hard-working blue-collar guy myself, and there are very few of us left so it’s nice to see people out here that are still willing to work hard.

“You take that and combine it with the family element and you can see why so many people have been enjoying being a part of this.”