‘Mini Makers Market PDX’ returns to East Portland school

INCLUDES VIDEO TOUR | Take a look a unique bazaar that brought young, outer East Portland vendors to sell their wares and treats at this event in inner Southeast Portland …

A wide variety of vendors – all of them students from around Portland – abound at this year’s Mini Makers Market PDX.

Story and photos by David F. Ashton

For the second year in a row, Woodstock Elementary School was the site of Mini Makers Market PDX on February 24.

The indoor recreation area, gymnasium and cafetorium were lined with vendor tables proffering a wide variety of crafts, candies and baked goods created by young people.

Showing and selling art, here’s Ember Rhodes – a sophomore at Benson Tech High School — who is joined for a moment by one of the Market’s organizers, mom Tabitha Rhodes.

“As one of the organizers, my inspiration is that my kid makes art, and we share a booth at events like these,” began Tabitha Rhodes. “A lot of people came up to our table and told us they wished there were a place their children could sell the stuff they make.

“So, I created a marketplace – we call it Mini Makers Market PDX – that is limited to kid vendors: No adult vendors,” Rhodes told East Portland News.

Take a video tour of this unique event:

Because she works at Woodstock Elementary, in the office as an administrative assistant, Rhodes said Woodstock seemed like the perfect place to put on the Mini-Maker Market.

These three bakers – Eliana Unberhandt (from Roosevelt High School), Annalise Shorb (from Franklin High School), and Maya Feldman-Wang (a student at Harrison Park Middle School) – all happily sell their goodies.

Homemade cookies, and other delicious baked goods, were very popular in the market, as were candies. Decorative artwork and crafts seemed to be selling well, too.

“This year our market has 81 vendors participating,” Rhodes remarked, “And they come from at least 35 schools around the Portland Metro area, although some are home-schooled kids.

Throughout the 2024 Mini Makers Market PDX, business is brisk.

“The best thing that we find coming out of this is watching the kids develop self-confidence,” observed Rhodes. “With the chances for young people to have live interactions being limited, this provides them with the opportunity to actually connect with both adults and kids, get feedback on their artwork or products, and conduct sales transaction.”

Perhaps surprisingly, cash transactions were remarkably few during this market. Most of the youthful vendors were accepting digital payments online – via PayPal, Venmo, and other systems. You wanted it? They found a convenient way to sell it to you!

© 2024 David F. Ashton ~ East Portland News™

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