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05/02/2018 08:30 AMIt’s been a long, long winter, but hope springs eternal with the return of a beloved warm weather tradition: The Madison Farmers’ Market is back on the Town Green on Friday, May 4.
Co-Market Master Kim Yahara is ready for her second year in the job and her sixth season as a vendor.
“There’s a great sense of community at the Madison Farmer’s Market,” she says. “It’s Friday afternoon so there’s a relaxed vibe. Families bring blankets and come to eat dinner, enjoying the great entertainment and kids dancing on the grass. It’s more than a market—it’s a community event that brings everyone in town together.”
Kim and her mother, Chris Butler, own Summer Hill Catering of Madison, and their table stocked with prepared dinners and desserts is always a busy location at the hometown market.
“I grew up in town so I love seeing my old teachers, our neighbors, and our friends. People know that we’re local and they really appreciate the food we make. We also have a large following of summer people who pick up dinner and stock up on food for the weekend,” she says.
“We make all our pies by hand, not machine,” she adds. “We put ourselves into every one and that’s why they taste so good. We test our recipes and we are proud of everything we sell.”
When the Madison Farmers’ Market master stepped aside a few years ago, Kim was excited to take on the role and share her new ideas.
“Last year we created social media for the market with a Facebook page, and it was very successful. We have a large group of people who have followed us and last year we increased attendance and business at the market,” she says. “This year, we’ll continue Facebook and we’re setting up an Instagram account.”
Kim says that the market is very popular with summer residents and visitors on holiday, but vendors are keen to increase the number of local residents who stop by every Friday.
“There’s a lot of variety of fresh vegetables and other foods at the people haven’t tried or don’t know how to prepare. This year, we have more food demonstrations with a chef who will shop for ingredients at the market and then prepare the food on-site, sharing the recipe with everyone,” she says.
Kim teams up with her fellow co-master, Aaron Taylor of Four Root Farm in East Haddam, to run the event and credits the great team of vendors with the success of the Madison market.
“All the vendors run their own businesses yet we share similar values. We believe in fresh, quality products and sharing them with our community,” she says. “Shopping at the market has great benefit for the environment and the local economy, and every year more people are understanding where their food is coming from and choosing to shop local.
Madison Proud
Born and raised in Madison, Kim graduated from Daniel Hand High School and completed a bachelor’s degree in economics and marketing at Quinnipiac University. She worked as a bookkeeper in the financial and banking industry, before taking the leap to pursue her great passion.
“I still loved food and baking, and wanted to make it my job,” she says.
In 2006, Kim joined her mother in the family business she had launched 10 years earlier. Summer Hill Catering started out delivering food for parties and events, and with Kim’s love of baking desserts, evolved to preparing and selling meals and treats at local markets.
“I was pregnant with my son and wanted a flexible job that worked around his schedule. We started selling at farmer’s markets and we’d be at five or six a week including Deep River, Old Saybrook, [and] Old Lyme. We were everywhere! Now we concentrate on our two markets a week: Madison and Stonington,” she says.
A busy mother to Andrew, 11, and Hailey, 9, stocking a full table on Friday market is a week-long mission for Kim. She plans the menu, takes her huge shopping list to the grocery store, and spends her weekdays baking in the commercial kitchen at the family home in Madison.
“We use local products wherever we can, including local rhubarb because it’s so abundant, and we use all local apples so there’s a mix of varieties and each pie tastes a little unique. Every week, we use 40 or 50 pounds of blueberries!” she adds.
A Leader Outside the Market
Kim’s stepping up to help run the market isn’t the first time she’s offered her talents. Kim’s son, Andrew, has Down syndrome and from 2009 to 2011, she served on the board of the Down Syndrome Association of Connecticut.
“There are lots of misconceptions about Down syndrome and much of the information that’s out there is not up to date. Fortunately, there is a strong community for people who have children with Down syndrome and I wanted to help support and develop a relationship with new parents,” she says. “I did some great leadership training and I learned a lot about running a non-profit and planning events.”
When the Madison Special Education PTO (SEPTO) was formed in 2016, Kim signed up as a founding board member and the group’s treasurer.
“I wanted to expand the opportunities for my son and for him to get more involved in our local community, with children that have special needs as well as typically developing children,” she says.
Madison SEPTO has enjoyed strong support from the town and school communities, Kim says.
“Madison SEPTO is a group of great people from different backgrounds with children who have different needs and challenges, who all bring a different experience and perspective. However, we share some of the same struggles and we all support each other,” she says. “We are focused on our children’s education and wellbeing, as well as social and emotional growth, and we want them to have great opportunities here in Madison.”
Kim is full of praise for Andrew’s teachers and paraprofessional staff at the Jeffrey School, however she says her son’s greatest experience came out of the blue: a call from the 4th-grade football coach asking Kim if Andrew would join the team.
“As a parent, all you ever want for your children is for them to be accepted and included. Joining the football team was an amazing experience for my son. He has made new friends who support him and understand him,” she says.
“In the last game of the season, the coach had Andrew run the final play and he scored a touchdown. The coach had put a GoPro [camera] on Andrew’s helmet and at the banquet, he played the video of the play and you can hear the whole team cheering him on. That touchdown was the most important moment in Andrew’s life.”
As a young mother, Kim spent a few years living in Killingworth before returning to her hometown.
“I love Madison. I live in the house I grew up in and I had a great education in Madison, so I’m pleased that my children get to experience that, too,” she says. “I want my kids to understand that working hard in school, in sports, in everything you do means that you can play a big role in the community.”
The Madison Farmer’s Market returns to the Town Green on Fridays, 3 to 6 p.m., from May 4 to Oct. 26. Admission is free. For more information, visit madisonctfarmersmarket.com or follow the Madison Farmer’s Market page on Facebook.
On Monday, May 7, Madison SEPTO presents “Choose Love: For Safer Schools, Homes, and Communities” with Scarlett Lewis, whose six year-old son was killed at Sandy Hook Elementary, at Mercy by the Sea, 167 Neck Road, Madison, from 6 to 8 p.m. The event is free. For more information or to register, contact madisonsepto@gmail.com.