Santa Rita Hosts First Annual Market Day

Many small business vendors set up shop at Santa Rita’s First Annual Market Day this past Saturday in the Santa Rita Elementary School Courtyard to entice San Angelo citizens for a little holiday shopping and to enjoy a bit of family fun. This event is one of many fundraisers planned for this school year, said Renee Robbins, a Santa Rita PTO committee member.

“This is our first Market Day put on by our PTO to raise funds for our school. There’s about 65 vendors here,” Robbins stated.

Throughout the day, about 1,000 attendees came and went. They got to browse all of the wares, including car detailing, tons of jewelry, candles, clothing and more. Not to mention, five food trucks set up shop to fill the shoppers’ bellies as they searched for holiday gifts. The food court offered a seated dining area, and visitors got to enjoy tacos, turkey legs, corn on the cob and a nice array of sweet treats, including funnel cakes and kettle corn.

Robbins said this event brought people in from beyond San Angelo.

“We have people who have traveled as far as San Antonio,” the committee member noted.

In addition to holiday shopping and good eating, people brought their dogs for free microchipping, provided by Concho Valley Paws and San Angelo Animal Services, and to take pictures with Santa. The two agencies also brought some pets for adoption, so some families went home with an extra gift.

Robbins stated the 20 volunteers who helped with the event made the first annual Market Day a success. Based on the results of this weekend’s event, another Market Day will be held in the near future.

Robbins said, “We hope to do another [Market Day] event in the spring.” 

Sandra Tutka, chairwoman of Santa Rita Market Day said she was thrilled with the way everything turned out. 

"It ran so smoothly. It was fabulous," she stated.

Tutka added that in the next PTO Committee meeting, she plans on proposing Santa Rita host the next Market Day event in April.