South First Road in downtown San Jose was leaping Wednesday afternoon. There was a jazz band taking part in, and folks crammed up luggage with contemporary berries, carrots and different produce. Distributors chatted up prospects as they offered honey, hummus, eggs and extra.
It was such a festive ambiance on the opening day of the Downtown San Jose Farmers’ Market that you might be forgiven for not realizing it was all an enormous gamble. For the primary time in additional than 20 years, the four-hour market moved from its conventional spot on a Friday across the lunch hour to Wednesday to a 3 p.m. begin.
“We’re attempting one thing new, attempting to take dangers,” mentioned Scott Knies, government director of the San Jose Downtown Affiliation. Final 12 months, the farmers market moved from San Pedro Sq. to the arty SoFA District, partly to make room for eating places to make use of the out of doors house for al fresco eating on San Pedro Road. This 12 months’s modifications replicate a number of the new realities as downtown continues its emergence from the COVID-19 pandemic.
San Jose is lifeless final by way of cities bringing employees again to the workplace, Knies mentioned, that means there are fewer folks strolling round on their lunch breaks. So a late afternoon market is sensible to catch San Jose State college students ending courses for the day, residents coming dwelling from work and work-at-home varieties out for joyful hour.
Shifting to Wednesday means fewer conflicts with different downtown occasions which can be beginning to choose up downtown, too. The City Vibrancy Institute has its “Each Thursday” occasions with bands taking part in at varied downtown venues, and this week sees the return of the month-to-month South First Fridays artwork stroll.
For Hway-ling Hsu, proprietor of Sweetdragon Baking Firm, the change of days and occasions wasn’t hurting gross sales of her well-liked candy and savory pies on the farmers market. “It’s been busy,” she mentioned. “At 10 or 11 within the morning it could possibly be very gradual, but it surely makes extra sense for this setting being later.”
The Downtown San Jose Farmers’ Market runs each Wednesday from 3 to 7 p.m. by way of Nov. 16 on South First Road between San Carlos and San Salvador streets.
GEN. MATTIS DELIVERS FOR SCOUTS: You wouldn’t often consider Gen. Jim Mattis, the previous U.S. Secretary of Protection, to be a man you’d carry off the bench. However he did an ideal job Thursday morning in reduction of former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at a Boy Scouts of America occasion in Santa Clara.
Rice needed to bow out earlier this week from making the keynote on the Silicon Valley Monterey Bay Council’s annual Neighborhood Management Breakfast fundraiser. However Mattis simply captivated the gang of greater than 500 folks on the Santa Clara Marriott in a dialog with entrepreneur and futurist Kevin Surace. Mattis obtained on the gang’s good facet early, praising the remarks of Ricky Lin, a Scout from Fremont whose Eagle Scout mission concerned making a social occasion for particular wants people.
“All of us want a morning like this after we can get collectively and take heed to folks like Ricky,” he mentioned.
It was additionally one thing of a farewell occasion for Jason Stein, who's stepping down because the council’s government in June after 18 months on the job and 33 years being concerned with the Boy Scouts. “Jason has been so instrumental in our growth,” mentioned Mark Lazzarini, president of the council’s board. “He needs to be happy with what he leaves behind, a company well-positioned to serve our youth of right now and tomorrow.”
MOTHER’S DAY GIFT: I’ve talked about beforehand that the incredible Jon Nakamatsu might be taking part in Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 for Symphony San Jose on Mom’s Day this Sunday. However I'll not have talked about there’s a “mom” within the 2:30 p.m. program: Ravel’s “Mom Goose Suite” (in addition to his “Pavane for a Useless Princess,” however that doesn’t fairly match the vacation).
One factor I didn’t know, nonetheless, was that Symphony San Jose Common Director Andrew Bales and Common Supervisor Jennifer Watkins have cooked up one thing particular for attendees on the California Theatre matinee. They gained’t inform me what it's apart from to say volunteers might be passing out “lovely and candy items” to the ladies within the viewers — even when they’re not mothers. Tickets are nonetheless out there at www.symphonysanjose.org.