18 Jun Introducing Chris Szymberski, manager, Telluride Farmers’ Market
[click “Play” to hear Chris’ interview]
One of the early signs of summer in the Telluride region is the truckloads of fresh fruits, vegetables, flowers, meats, fish, and crafts and more to market every Friday.
The Telluride Farmers’ Market opened last weekend, June 12. Now in its seventh year, the Market on South Oak Street features about 40 vendors coming from a 100-mile radius with their wares. They will be manning their booths through October.
Chris Szymberski manages the Telluride Farmers’ Market – and he comes by his Carhartts naturally.
Chris was born and raised in the South, where his grandfather, a major influence, was a chef and a gardener. His experience in the Boy Scouts – he made it to Eagle Scout – enhanced an inborn appreciation of nature. Chris attended Auburn University in Alabama, graduating with a B.S. in horticulture (fruits and veggies) and a firm desire to save the world one tomato at a time.
Only days after graduation, Chris jumped on a train heading towards Telluride, determined to find work at Tony and Barclay Daranyi’s Indian Ridge Farm & Bakery, a farmhand job he found on the Internet. He also worked summers at Kris Holstrom’s Tomten Farm, and several winters as a line chef at The Excelsior. Today, he and Tyler Schultz of Arborist Services (telluridearborists@yahoo.com) team up as tree surgeons.
Chris sees the Telluride Farmers’ Market as more than just an opportunity to buy sustainably grown products, a good thing of and in itself. He sees the Market as an opportunity for a giant community hug, a great way to reconnect with friends as we affirm our connection to the natural world through the food we buy and prepare.
Asked about his job description, Chris sees himself as secretary, disseminator of information, advertiser, and liaison between all of us and the vendors we are privileged to get to know personally over the summer and into the fall. And he is asking for feedback, telluridefarmersmarket@gmail.com.
To learn more, click the “play” button and listen to Chris’ podcast.
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