ROBERT PIERCE
• Leader & Times
A favorite activity in summertime in small communities is walking, and a favorite any time of the year is shopping.
One Oklahoma Panhandle town has combined the two activities into one with a chance to stroll its historic Main Street and shop from local farms and makers directly, all the while enjoying local live entertainment with the shopping experience.
In its first year, the Hooker Outside Market takes place every other Saturday evening throughout early August, and organizer Robin Cook said the event has more of the feel of a swap meet to her.
“We’ve been having lots of live animals and things like that,” she said.
The Hooker Outside Market runs from 6 to 8:30 p.m. on the town’s Main Street, with the next market scheduled for Saturday, June 21. Other markets will take place July 5, July 19 and Aug. 2.
With two markets having already taken place thus far, Cook said she has had about 20 vendors for each. She did say, however, live music has been somewhat of a challenge thus far.
“The first one, I had some live music with a couple of boys who came down to sing,” she said. “It did very well. There was a lot more foot traffic. The second one, I couldn’t get in touch with anybody, and I ended up doing a playlist. The foot traffic wasn’t quite the same.”
At the June 21 market, Hooker native Katelynn Thomas is scheduled to perform, and Cook said her goal is to have live music at every market.
“If it doesn’t happen, it’ll still be a DJ,” she said.
Thomas currently lives in Beaver, Okla., about an hour east of Hooker, and Cook said with Thomas performing at the market June 21, that night will have somewhat of the feeling of a homecoming.
“Everybody’s super proud of her and all she’s accomplished,” Cook said. “I feel the community gets together. Hooker is already very community-driven as far as the youth in sports. It’s already very tightly knit, but I think this is taking that and making it happen during the summertime, not just school.”
Still in its early stages, Cook said the Hooker Outside Market is already gaining some momentum in the community.
“It’s in downtown Hooker, and we’re starting to talk to some of the businesses,” she said. “There’s a shirt shop downtown, and they can try to coordinate their times and open while we have the foot traffic there. We’ve had some businesses on Main Street that have been on board to open their doors during that time. Maybe we’ll get a little more of a profound Main Street feel. That’s what we’re aiming for.”
Cook said a farmers market had been attempted in Hooker about three to four years ago along U.S. Highway 54, but she said that event had a tough run.
“I participated here and there as a vendor, and we didn’t have very much foot traffic,” she said. “It died off on its own.”
Cook said she has spoken with vendors from the Hooker Outside Market for feedback, and so far, they have sold quite well.
“It has been a pretty good endeavor so far for the vendors,” she said.
Typically, markets such as the one in Hooker take place in the morning, and Cook said an evening time was chosen to keep from inconveniencing farmers markets in neighboring communities.
“I know a lot of the Hooker people like to go to Guymon or Liberal on a Saturday morning,” she said. “We had that in mind when we were trying to coordinate this with everybody else’s farmers markets. That’s why we chose evening.”
Cook said this is one of the reasons for the good foot traffic the market gets.
“It’s later in the evening, and maybe that gives some room for the people who are not early birds and don’t like to wake up on Saturday morning,” she said.
Small towns such as Hooker do not provide much in the way of activities, and Cook said this has made the market a successful event in its short history.
“Besides the pool, which the kids like, I don’t think there’s an activity for adults to be a part of during the summer in Hooker,” she said. “The pool has a women’s night, but besides that, Hooker has not been offering a lot for the adult community. This right here, that’s why it has so many people show up. It’s been long overdue for something for the grown-ups to do.”
Booths for upcoming editions of the Hooker Outside Market are still available.
“We have plenty of space even though we are averaging about 20 booths,” Cook said. There’s still a lot of space around there.”
To reserve a booth or for more information, visit the Hooker Outside Market Facebook page.
“It also has a message link if they just want to ask questions and not fill out a form,” Cook said.
Cook said she is excited to see what becomes of the first year of the Hooker Outside Market, as well as making it an annual event in the Panhandle town.
“We are already talking about next year – the mayor, myself, other people involved in the city,” she said. “They’re all speaking about hanging up lights for next year, banners, signage. We are already trying to get everything put in place for next year and having some pre-thought on that and ordering things so it can be that much better next year.”
