Faces of Green Spring
By Ivy Sinaiko
Caroline HockenberryMost of us think of Green Spring as just a beautiful garden in Fairfax County. In fact It is also “mission control” for several across-Fairfax County programs, one of which is the farmers market program. I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Green Spring’s farmers market coordinator, Caroline Hockenberry, who joined the staff last spring.
Caroline was born in Montreal but moved with her parents, who are British, to this area when she was four years old. Her early career was in fiber arts. She taught knitting and spinning and managed a local yarn shop. She enjoyed both working with customers and promoting good vendors. She hosted several “fiber farmers markets” each year. After fifteen years with the yarn shop, she went to work for Fairfax County’s Neighborhood and Community Services. She eventually became assistant director of the James Lee Community Center, where she did event planning and ran summer camps, after-school programs, and senior events.
Caroline feels that her previous life and career experiences have helped her with her current job as farmers market coordinator.
Fairfax County offers ten farmers markets. Vendors apply to participate in January. The market season starts at the end of April and, while most markets close in November, a few stay open until the end of December. The markets currently provide produce and locally prepared foods and are run by volunteers. Caroline is the only full-time Fairfax County employee managing the program. She is ably assisted by fellow Green Spring staffer Molly Cullen.
Running the markets is complicated; in addition to working with vendors and market managers, it involves dealing with problems that most of us would not think of, such as porta potties and security. The goal is to spend Fairfax County tax dollars well by getting the best vendors, finding dedicated volunteers to be market managers, and providing the services that customers want. To that end, Fairfax County recently did a customer survey that had close to 800 responses. The results revealed that some customers have used the markets for many years and are only interested in buying produce. Other customers, particularly those with young families, want the markets to be more “an experience,” a place to hang out with friends, eat, listen to music, etc.
During the market off-season, Caroline and Molly are using the results of the survey to pursue ideas for making the markets more attractive to all customers, including the addition of hot foods, more ethnic foods, and more opportunities for musicians to perform. One of their challenges is promoting each market according to its specific location and customers.
After spending some time with Caroline, I am sure that her energy and enthusiasm will translate into exciting farmers markets in 2023. She is a terrific addition to the Green Spring staff.
