Alana George, Campus Carrier Asst. Arts & Living Editor

Saturday was the bi-annual Berry Farmers Market, held in Clara Bowl, offering a variety of goods.

According to senior Laura Combs, the marketing team lead for the Berry Student Enterprises, the Enterprises started the market in an effort to connect the Enterprises with the greater Rome community, and to generate some publicity. All of the Berry Student Enterprises brought things to sell, including vegetables, herbs, eggs and even furniture. There were also stalls manned by local artisans, selling their own jewelry, woodwork and produce. Among the stalls lining Clara Bowl were a few Berry students who brought their own handmade wares to the market to sell.

Junior Jessica Clements is the owner of Clementine Design, an Etsy shop specializing in hand-lettered art. The name came from a nickname given to Clements by one of her high school teachers and Clements said that “it just worked” for the name of her shop. The shop has been in operation since mid-June of this year and Clements loves running the business.

This was her second market; she was able to do the summer market in July. She was inspired to start the shop by her mother, who does a lot of woodworking. Clements said that she is quite talented at calligraphy and lettering, so it just came naturally to her.

One of Clements’ favorite pieces she has done is a blue and green watercolor globe, with accents in metallic gold ink and the word “explore” on the top in white ink. She loves this piece because she loves to travel, and she got to experiment with mixing inks. Clements hopes to continue vending at Berry’s markets, and to expand to markets in the Rome community.

Juniors Emma Duke, Mariana Novakovic, and Jacquelyn Pierce started their business “Plants & Pastries” very recently; this Saturday was their first time at the Berry market. The business had been an idea of theirs for a long time, and the girls were very excited to debut their booth at the market.

The whole endeavor started with the three best friends who love plants and love to bake. Even more so, they love bringing the feeling of home to their college environment and they wanted to expand to a wider audience than just themselves and their close friends. Among the items they sold were miniature pumpkin pies made in Mason jar lids; they all love the idea of a pie on the go. They are hopeful to continue their market stand next time and continue to bring the feeling of home to their student body.

Junior Josie Hadaway has been doing watercolor calligraphy for the past three years. She said she was bored one day, so she watched some videos online and started painting. It came very naturally to her, so she painted often. She then realized she needed to sell some of her pieces, because her collection was growing rapidly and her Etsy shop, Written by J, was born.

Hadaway has since expanded her selection from watercolor calligraphy to tote bags, chalkboard signs, greeting cards and wooden signs (one of her personal favorites). She loves market days; she has participated the Berry market every year and she plans on coming back in the summer. Hadaway hopes to continue to grow both her business and her fan base in the future.

For students who wish to participate in future markets, Combs recommends emailing the Student Enterprises, as well as following them on social media.

“We always post about if we have upcoming sales and we post ways for students to get in contact with us if they are interested in being a vendor,” Combs said. “A lot of our students had really successful sales, so (the farmers market) is a great way for them to get their name out there too.”