Fresh peaches are a popular item this month at the Frisco Farmers Market. Photo: Tyra Damm

By Tyra Damm

There aren’t many farms around Frisco, but that doesn’t get in the way of Frisco residents accessing farm-fresh produce, dairy products and meat.

The Frisco Farmers Market, now in its fourth year, sets up shop at Frisco Square each Saturday morning from May until October. Shoppers will find everything needed to pull together seasonal meals (every food group is represented) plus discover extras, like candles, handmade jewelry and children’s clothes.

“First and foremost, we’re a farmers market,” says Scott Merner, manager of the market and a Frisco Noon Lions Club member. (The Lions Club runs the market and earmarks proceeds to its eye health charity.)

The idea is to help area residents “buy local, buy fresh – and organic if we can find it,” Merner says.

Folks line up to buy fresh peaches, tomatoes, corn, squash, berries and cucumber. Photo: Tyra Damm

Vendors set up tables and canopies on a flat concrete slab tucked between shops at the Square and City Hall. Shoppers have plenty of free parking around the market, which opens at 8 a.m. and closes at 1 p.m. – or when vendors run out of merchandise.

It certainly pays to show up early – to beat the heat and to buy popular goods while they’re available.

David Dooley, a Frisco resident who tends his farmland in Whitton (in Van Zandt County, not far from Canton), had run out of his tomatoes by 9:30 a.m. on an early June Saturday. He did have a few cucumbers and green beans left for later visitors.

“I have a regular following for my tomatoes,” he said, “because they’re so good.”

He uses no pesticides and follows organic methods, though he’s not a certified organic grower.

Dooley, a retired dairy processor, calls himself a hobbyist gardener.
“I believe in selling what you grow,” he said, adding that he occasionally sells produce grown by folks he knows well enough to vouch for their products.

Next to Dooley, who sells under the name Double D Farm, is Terry Pillard, owner of Truth Hill Farm in Farmersville.

Terry Pillard of Truth Hill Farm works with a customer at the Frisco Farmers Market. Photo: Tyra Damm

Pillard sells chicken, beef, lamb and pork products each week, and says that the Frisco market is his best market. (You can also find his products at markets in Garland, Addison and Dallas.)

He calls his method “beyond organic.”

Pillard, who has been influenced by the writings and works of revolutionary farmers Joel Salatin and Allan Nation, says there are no herbicides or pesticides used at any point in his process of raising animals. His bacon and sausage contain no nitrates, nitrites or MSG.
And his animals aren’t just grass fed, they’re grass finished, meaning that the animals eat no grains at all during their life cycle.

With that, diners get more omega-3 fats, vitamin E, conjugated linoleic acid (one of the “good” fats) and beta-carotene, Pillard said.
Just down the row from Pillard, shoppers will find Guy and Liz Money, who sell fresh, never pasteurized honey collected from beehives in Collin and Grayson counties.

The Moneys have been selling at the Frisco market since its first-ever Saturday in 2007.

“A lot of our customers rely on us for allergy protection,” Mr. Money says, explaining that his honey contains local grass, tree and wildflower pollen that helps build immunity in those who eat it.

“Customers are looking for benefits to their health,” he said, “and honey’s vitamins are balanced by Mother Nature.”

The Moneys say that they don’t use pesticides on their hives in an effort to remove the chemicals from the food chain.

Katharine Sellers of Frisco sits down after shopping to listen to Dr. O's Medicine Show. Photo: Tyra Damm

Frisco resident Katharine Sellers says she shopped the market almost every open Saturday for the past two years. Last Saturday she stocked up on fruits, vegetables, jelly and cookies.

She pulled a small, slightly dirty onion from a bag.

“You can’t get this in the grocery store,” Sellers said. “This is right out of the field.”

She’s a big fan of the market’s tomato options, too. “These tomatoes taste like fruit rather than a vegetable.”

Sellers also enjoys the market’s live entertainment and was happy that it was the right day to catch Dr. O’s Medicine Show, a five-man band that plays American roots music.

The live music lends atmosphere to the market and heightens the sense of community already fostered by friendly vendors, families with children, folks walking leashed dogs, lively conversation at every booth – and fresh, seasonal food.

Frisco Farmers Market
www.friscofarmersmarket.org
8 a.m. until 1 p.m. (or sell out)
Every Saturday until Oct. 23
6048 Frisco Square Blvd. (southeast of the Dallas North Tollway and Main Street)

Frisco Mayor Maher Maso was among the winners Friday as the U.S. Conference of Mayors announced its 2010 Mayors’ Climate Protection Awards.

Maso received an Honorable Mention in the Large Cities category. Frisco was recognized for the city’s Residential Green Building Program.

From the Conference’s Best Practices Report: “The City of Frisco became the first city in the U.S. to adopt a mandatory Residential Green Building Program (May 2001)…The city’s Green Building Program focuses on several key areas, including waste reduction, pollution reduction, water conservation, energy conservation and sustainable development, with standards that include EPA’s ENERGY STAR Program as a minimum standard.

“As the program continues to evolve to meet the needs of the community and the environment, it is hoped that the city’s requirements become ‘functionally extinct’ by being absorbed into the International Building Code. In this way, the city’s standards are no longer ‘green building’ but are recognized as baseline standards for how residential buildings are constructed.”

The U.S. Conference of Mayors’ Climate Protection Agreement is a commitment to reduce carbon emissions in participant cities below 1990 levels, in line with the Kyoto Protocol. The Mayors’ Climate Protection Awards recognize mayors for innovative practices designed to increase energy efficiency and curb global warming. An independent panel of judges selected the winners from a pool of 140 applicants.

Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and North Little Rock Arkansas Mayor Patrick Henry Hays won first place in the Large and Small Cities categories, respectively. In the Large City category, Frisco joins Dallas, Anaheim, Calif., New York City and San Francisco as Honorable Mention recipients.

Frisco ISD is implementing an exciting new enrollment system this year from Infosnap. In an effort to reduce paper waste, improve accuracy, increase efficiency, and save parents time, we will be replacing some of our previous paper practices with online alternatives.

This new process will begin in the 2010-2011 school year. Parents will receive a letter and/or email from Frisco ISD with a unique website login and information on how to complete the required forms online. These forms will be required for student schedule pick up at the secondary level and to finalize class placement at the elementary level.

Parents will be instructed to go online to fill out the information required annually. At the end of the online session, a signature page will be generated. This form must be signed and delivered to the school office along with a current proof of residence to pick up student schedules on the dates listed above.

Acceptable proof of residence is a current electric or water bill, lease or rental agreement or contract on a new home. Parents without Internet access at home can utilize the public library; schools will also be providing opportunities for access and a district night for assistance and support will be communicated in the letter.

In another effort to save paper, gas, reduce clutter in the schools, and address safety concerns, FISD will utilize a community website folder for distribution of all non-school related materials from youth-oriented groups in lieu of distribution tables at each campus. With the above referenced online registration and re-enrollment process, we believe we will improve our ability to capture accurate email addresses of all our parents. This will enable us to more effectively send periodic reminders to link parents to the electronic folder displaying information on community, youth-oriented services and programs.

This practice will take place with the beginning of the 2010-2011 school year. Parents without Internet access may utilize the public library or ask school staff for assistance in printing items of interest.

If you have fruit trees in your yard and don’t intend to use that fruit yourself, Frisco Family Services Center can offer a chance to get rid of that unwanted produce and do some good while you are at it.

Consider donating those items to the Frisco Food Pantry. The pantry supplies more than 35,000 pounds of food necessary items to more than 375 families each month.

“(The) idea of having people pick fruit from their home trees sounds wonderful and something we would definitely be interested in,” said Blake Ball, Food Pantry Manager. “That is something we usually have to pay for so anything like that we can get donated is a huge bonus.”

All items should be brought directly to the food pantry, located at 8780 3rd Street (Corner of 3rd and Elm). The pantry is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Wed. until 6 p.m.

If you have any questions about what you should or shouldn’t bring, e-mail Blake Ball or call 972-335-9495.

By Tyra Damm

Rufus visits with a future recycler. Photo: Tyra Damm

One of Frisco’s most recognizable residents is not yet 8 years old. In his short life, he has attended more school assemblies, parades and civic events than most public servants. He has posed for countless photos and received a lifetime of hugs. And he has helped shape attitudes toward clean, green living.

Rufus, a tall brown dog, is the friendly face and ambassador of Frisco Environmental Services.

“You have to have something that gives you appeal,” says Pippa Couvillion, Environmental Services Manager and Rufus’s creator. “Rufus was invented so we could have a brand for recycling in Frisco.”

The branding is pervasive. Rufus’ paw prints are found all over town – in schools, at official city events and on printed materials mailed to every Frisco home.

Real-life Rufus is a costumed character (think Mickey Mouse walking around at Disneyland) who stands more than six feet tall. He wears a bright green collar with a tag showing off the universal symbol for reduce, reuse, recycle. He encourages his human friends to give high fives and hugs. He dances. He expresses himself with enthusiasm – but never spoken words.

Cartoon Rufus is a drawn character (think Mickey Mouse in a storybook) who promotes the city’s commitment to sustainable living and reduction in landfill waste. You’ve probably seen his cheerful smile while driving around town – he’s plastered on the Environmental Services car with the thought bubble “Recycling is extremely cool.”

Couvillion created Rufus after spending years in the Frisco schools, teaching children about recycling. Before Rufus, when she did school presentations, she would sometimes borrow Frisky, the giant costumed raccoon. Or she would use a puppet.

But there wasn’t a connection between Frisky and recycling. The raccoon was already a brand for Frisco schools in general.

“I knew that we needed an identity,” Couvillion says.

She also knew that Frisco was going to continue its phenomenal growth, and she wanted to establish the recycling identity as early as possible. Attaching a child-friendly face to the recycling program just as Frisco’s population was exploding was strategic.

“I knew that in order to get the message out, you need to teach the children. You need to impact the children,” she says.

In 2001, the recycling participation in Frisco was good, but the numbers were flat.

“No matter what I did, I could have jumped up and down all day long, I couldn’t get the participation rate up,” she says. “I wanted to get the kids really involved with the program.”

The year of Rufus’ debut, Frisco homes used a small bin for recycling. Homes were averaging about 22 pounds of recyclables each month.

Now, with greater awareness and the availability of the large recycling carts, each household averages 68 pounds of recyclables each month. That’s waste that won’t fill landfills.

When Rufus visits schools, he promotes specific themes. (He visits every Frisco elementary school at least twice per school year.) One year he promoted battery recycling. This year he urged the use of reusable shopping bags instead of plastic bags.

Those themes are reinforced in coloring books produced by the Environmental Services team. And each school is given receptacles for collecting those materials for recycling.

Rufus poses for a photo with a couple of young Clean It & Green It volunteers this April. Photo: Tyra Damm

Because Rufus can’t talk (though he pantomimes really well), he requires a handler. Almost everywhere you see real-life Rufus, you’ll also see Jeremy Starritt, the city’s Environmental Education Coordinator. Most kids around town know him as Mr. Jeremy.

While Rufus walks, waves and receives hugs, Starritt talks with children about taking care of the Earth. Starritt also works closely with each campus and their Green Teams — student groups led by a staff coordinator that work to promote recycling and other Earth-friendly programs. Those teams are responsible for filling the campuses’ recycling dumpsters.

Even if you don’t have a child in Frisco schools, you’ve probably seen Rufus. He’s all over the colorful environmental newsletter, “Heard from the Curb,” mailed to every resident throughout the year. The most recent issue showed Rufus wearing groovy green glasses to promote the 40th anniversary of Earth Day.

“If we can make a publication that the children want to pick up … we know it’s going to get read,” Couvillion says.

Rufus was originally made possible thanks to a grant from the North Central Texas Council of Governments. The original funds, about $42,000, were used for his custom costume and the newsletter.

Rufus is popular in Frisco, of course, but he’s also well known in environmental circles.

“We are known because of our education outreach,” Couvillion says.

Frisco’s environmental education programs have won national awards, and Couvillion and Starritt have spoken to national groups about the city’s programs.

Rufus isn’t the kind of dog who rests on past glory. He’s always trying to increase recycling participation and rates. His humans have big plans – including a new coloring book that features real Frisco kids and their contributions to reducing waste.

And Couvillion dreams of a day when Rufus has his own home at Frisco Fire Safety Town – one that can be toured in person and also online – and even his own television show.

Not bad for an 8-year-old canine.