It was cold. It was raining. Then, the rain turned to snow, and slush.

And yet, the very first Christmas sale by the 91原创 Community Farmers Market saw vehicles packing the parking lot of the Derek Doubleday Arboretum at 21177 Fraser Hwy. on Saturday, Dec. 9, as a steady flow of people came by to do their holiday shopping, while constant shovelling and salting kept the sidewalks clear.

A Christmas-themed market featuring local food vendors, it saw some sellers set up indoors at the Rotary Interpretive Centre, while others were under canopies just outside.

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Murrayville resident Naomi Lark, owner and operator of the , was bundled up against the weather, selling her pickles and preserves at the entrance to the centre.

鈥淲hen it was raining this morning, I prayed for snow instead, and the snow came out,鈥� a cheerful Lark told the 91原创 Advance Times.

鈥淚 prefer [it] to be snowing on a Christmas market, any day.鈥�

Market executive director Amanda Smith rated it a success.

鈥淚 think it went really well.鈥�

 It was an eye-opener for some shoppers, who didn鈥檛 know about the summer market, Smith discovered.

鈥淭here was a lot of folks that ended up coming because they saw all the marketing leading up to this, to the event, and then when they got there, a lot of vendors and some of the volunteer staff told them we have an active summer market, too. So we were actually educating people, and got quite a bit of word out.鈥�

Smith thanked those who braved the weather, 鈥渆ven though they felt it was a little bit dicey.鈥�

鈥淣ot not one vendor had a complaint, except for how cold it was. They were all very happy with the the turnout and how busy it was.鈥�

There will be a second Christmas market next year, Smith predicted.

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