A night of community-Viroqua’s Night Market
The Viroqua Chamber of Commerce held its first of four Night Markets for this year in Eckhart Park, that saw city and Driftless Area residents come together last Thursday evening, to eat, drink, browse a variety of unique vendors, and dance.
Sponsored by the Viroqua Chamber of Commerce, the city has incorporated into it a Nationally Accredited Main Street Entity, meaning they have all of the services of a chamber of commerce, but also offers an additional level of services to all members.
A confessed “city girl”, Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Nora Schmidt, was born and raised in Madison, Wisconsin, and moved to the area ten years ago with her husband, after falling in love with how beautiful the Viroqua area is. Inspiration for a night market in Viroqua came from her love of the Madison night market she regularly attended.
Schmidt, having been in her position for about 5 years, stated that the chamber is always looking for different ways to bring the community together and provide opportunities for entrepreneurs who maybe have an Etsy page or are using other selling platforms, but that are not quite ready for brick and mortar.
“Events such as this are a perfect opportunity for that sort of thing.”, Schmidt said, and stressed that the chamber is benefiting entrepreneurs, and bringing the community together to have a good time. “There’s nothing better than a night out under the stars,” she said with a smile.
In their second year of the Night Market, sixty vendors included meats, pottery, artesian foods, Henna, soaps, and no shortage of organic products. Schmidt noted that they had carry-over vendors from last year, in addition to new ones.
“I think it’s better than it was last year. They have a lot more vendors and a lot more variety. There are definitely more people. What I really like about that is, I think most of Viroqua is here tonight,” said Kris Welter who attended the event with her husband, Duke.
“One of the things I love about Viroqua is it has a diversity of interest, viewpoints, and skills. When you go to the Co-Op, (different professions) give a great group of ideas together to share things. I think that’s the vibrant thing about Viroqua. I moved here 5 years ago from Eau Claire, and it’s been a great voyage of discovery,” Duke said.
Duke stated he noticed that people are really comfortable with each other at the Night Market, and meeting each other, in addition to seeing people they already know. “We’ve seen a lot of people we know, as well as have met new people. We have visitors from Stevens Point and they said it’s a nice expression of the community,” he said.
As for all the art represented by various vendors, Kris said, “I’m an artist, so I like seeing people with their artwork and getting to meet them face to face. I’ve seen their work in galleries but now I get to know the people.”
Market goers were entertained by Whiskey Chicken and Zac and the Guys Behind Him, a garage-rock variety cover band comprised of recent high school graduates. “We always try to incorporate as much of the community as possible, all ages, all interests,” Schmidt said.
On the event as a whole, Schmidt said, “Everything we are as a community, and who we are as people, comes to light during this event. There is an amazing vibe here. People are having so much fun, people are laughing, enjoying food, and seeing neighbors who they haven’t seen in a while. Every single person walking around has a smile on their face. That is why we do what we do, to create community, to create economic development, and be who we are in Viroqua.”
Ending on that note, Duke Welter just may have summed up Viroqua as a whole saying, “How many towns of 4400 have 4 yoga studios, 3 theaters, a co-op of 4,000 members or more, and all kinds of music? You can’t not enjoy a town like this.”
For more information on the Viroqua Chamber of Commerce and future events, visit .http://viroqua-wisconsin.com/chamber-mainstreet
