McMullen: Travis among local notables at lunch auction event

If you can’t find enough things to occupy your time in Sedalia this Saturday then you just aren’t trying hard enough.

The Sedalia Area Farmers’ Market begins its second season on Saturday and it’s good to see that the people of this town have embraced a new event enough for it to come back.

For years, the only farmers’ market that Sedalia had immediately available was located in the parking lot of the Thompson Hills Shopping Center. I don’t even know if they were actively encouraged to line up their pickup trucks and sell fruits and vegetables out of the back of them. It is nice, sure, but it lacks organization and advertisement. People only happen upon the old farmers’ market when they drive past it. That is one thing that it does have — high visibility when trying to draw people who are shopping or working in the Walmart sector of town.

It’s just great that the farmers, craftsmen and artisans of mid-Missouri now have a dedicated space to sell their wares and it’s great that the residents of Sedalia have an opportunity to cut out the middle men and buy their produce and other assorted goods directly from the source.

It’s also great that in this space there is room for local musicians to perform. I’ve always said that one of the things that is key to the revitalization of downtown Sedalia is a performance space for local acts. A town that embraces its local artists is a town that could see an increase in tourism as a result — perhaps even an increase in natives who are willing to pick up an instrument or a microphone and put on some kind of show. I, for one, want to see all the hidden talents of the people of Sedalia.

But I’m afraid I won’t be able to make it to the opening day of the Sedalia Area Farmers’ Market this year because there’s another event going on and I’ve promised my presence.

The Sedalia Sesquicentennial Celebration (I don’t think I’ll ever be able to spell “sesquicentennial” without looking it up) reaches one of its peaks on Saturday: “Welcome to the 1860s” in Liberty Park.

And I can’t help but think that it is funny that the 1860s celebration comes after the 1940s event that happened back in the beginning of March.

Saturday’s events will start like this, according to the events calendar at sedalia150.com: “Civil War Re-enactment — 9 a.m. — Call to Revelry by the Civil War enactors followed by the National Anthem, Pledge of Allegiance, Founder George Smith Remarks, Mayor Horn Welcome.”

It’s good to see that they are specifically welcoming Sedalia Mayor Elaine Horn, otherwise she might have thought she wasn’t invited. (I know what’s actually going on here, but that’s how I read it the first time I skimmed over it.)

There are a number of things happening in Liberty Park on that day: basket weaving, rope making, horse-drawn buggy rentals, “period games,” Maypole dancing, and a celebrity lunch basket auction.

Now you’ll never catch me dancing around a Maypole, but there is one event that I am going to be a part of for sure: the celebrity lunch auction.

If you need an example of the kind of thing that is going to happen, please refer to the picnic basket auction in the movie version of the musical “Oklahoma,” except you’ll get well-known Sedalians instead of attractive young women.  (I can’t believe that I actually had a reason to make reference to a musical that was released in 1955 — I should be ashamed.)

The people of Sedalia will get to bid on an opportunity to have a basket lunch prepared by their favorite Sedalia celebrity with their favorite Sedalia celebrity. I’m one of them; so is Mayor Horn, Judy Parkhurst, SFCC President Dr. Marsha Drennon, Bruce “in the Morning” Enrietto, Pettis County Presiding Commissioner Rusty Kahrs, local businessman Ron Ditzfeld and even Dave Phillips, publisher of The Sedalia Democrat, among others.

Members of the Sedalia Chamber of Commerce, Freedom Torch Award winners, media personalities and some generally powerful people are going to be available. You can purchase our time and drive the conversation in any way you like. And you’ll get to sample celebrity fare, which I imagine will consist of a whole lot of sandwiches. I don’t even know what people eat on a picnic — I’m not sure if I’ve ever been to a picnic. When it comes to the culinary arts, I promise absolutely nothing and I don’t even expect you to pretend to eat it if you really don’t want to.

But it’s less about the actual food and more about catching the ear of your favorite local celebrity. I’m not even sure if anyone would want to pay to have lunch with me; I’m sure there will be many others who go for much more than I go for, but that’s all right — it’s not a competition.

Liberty Park is going to be filled with things to do and I don’t think we’re legally allowed to kick you out of Sedalia if you don’t come, but I wouldn’t take any chances.

I’ll see you there.