By Aiko Hill

Looking Back, Moving Forward

Just a few weeks ago, Los Altos welcomed the arrival of the Thursday evening Farmers’ Market. Summer is here! While not yet as historic as the Pet Parade, the Arts & Wine Festival or the Festival of Lights Parade, the market is another event that adds to the family oriented, small town atmosphere that makes our village the “Crown of the Peninsula.”

Besides the opportunity to do a bit of shopping for fruit, flowers, and vegetables, the market, like our other festivals, is one more chance to stroll around the town, peek in a few shop windows and maybe even convince others in your household to have dinner out.

Our downtown is lovely, but it closes so EARLY! After 8 p.m., it seems like nearly every place is locked up. The Farmers’ Market is helping change that.

On a recent Thursday, my husband and I made our visit to the village. The market was a treat, bright, colorful, and active; friendly faces on both sides of the vendor stands; people greeting one another and together creating an overwhelmingly pleasant atmosphere. It was also a chance to think back to the early days of our village. The vegetables that were grown in Los Altos were mostly consumed by those doing the growing. The fruit would be loaded on to carts and transported down a dusty San Antonio Road to Mountain View for shipment out of the valley.

As we run from appointment to appointment and event to event, Thursday evening is a chance to step back a little and relax. Rather than bustling, we can stroll. Rather than eating, we can dine. My husband and I aren’t late-nighters by any stretch of the imagination, but Thursday evenings give us a little chance to get out, sometimes with the family and sometimes just the two of us. Certainly the market has its charm, but what happens afterward is wonderful: many people stay! It was nearly 10 p.m. and people were still sitting at outside tables finishing dinner and chatting with friends. There was the music of a live band coming from another establishment, and a large group of people coming out of a restaurant together - there must have been 20 of them!

So, if you are looking to help build a tradition, consider visiting the Los Altos Farmers’ Market. It’s fun, it’s pleasant, and who knows, you may even decide to make a night of it!

Send comments and suggestions to aikohill@aol.com.