It was a good day to sell raspberries.
That's what Sophia Jackson, the owner of Mother Hulda's Garden, thought as she sold fresh produce to customers at the South Cariboo Farmers' Market on Friday, Aug. 9. Jackson said she was doing brisk business like she usually does when she was distracted from her stall for a minute and returned to find her cash box missing. She quickly realized that someone had stolen it and the roughly $800 worth of cash inside.
"It was around noon and had been a very busy market morning and I was selling lots of vegetables. It was a big raspberry day," Jackson recalled. "I was distracted from my booth for maybe a minute and I came back in to do another transaction and my cash box I always kept on my table behind my vegetables was gone. I didn't see who took it, I saw nothing at all."
Jackson has been coming to the farmers market for over three years now with her parents being regular members of the market community for close to three decades. She grows all her own produce out on the Heimweg Homestead on Timothy Lake Road.
That familiarity with the market must have made her comfortable, Jackson remarked, which is why she let her guard down. In the aftermath of the theft, she was visibly shaken and told the Free Press she felt a bit foolish.
"My parents have been going to this market since it started, nearly 30 years and we've never had anything like this happen," Jackson said. "Maybe my guard was just down and I didn't think it would happen. I felt foolish and naive."
Jackson said she reported the theft to the 100 Mile House RCMP who sent an officer over shortly after the theft to get her statement and interview potential witnesses. While Jackson herself didn't see anything, a nearby vendor was able to give the officer a partial description they are using to try and locate the suspect(s).
She noted that no one who does the markets is wealthy so the theft hurts a lot. Jackson got teary-eyed when she recalled how after hearing what had happened Heather Balaam, the market manager, conducted a collection and several of her fellow vendors chipped in a few hundred bucks to help offset her loss.
"That is the part that has overwhelmed me the most. People were buying things and not taking their change when they heard about it," Jackson said. "They would buy a squash and give me $20. It's the people, especially the ones who come every week, who support me and know how hard I work. They've just been amazing. Even though some jerk stole from a farmer, the community really proved they love their farmers."
In the meantime, Jackson said she still plans to attend the farmers' market but with some new precautions. One of the members of the community bought her a money belt on Friday she'll now be wearing rather than using a money box again. She noted it is an unfortunate but prudent measure.
"From now on my whole strategy will be changing and the other vendors are on a little bit of an alert now," Jackson said. "It's a marvellous little market and people should come to it."
