Saturday morning is something almost all people look forward to after a long, hard week. We get to sleep in, lounge around the house and rest up for the week to come, and sometimes we have absolutely nothing to commit to doing all day long.

But, for some, this is the busiest time of the weekend because they are setting up at the Farmville Community Marketplace at 8:30 a.m. and selling their homemade and home-grown goodies until 1 p.m.

Local farmers, crafters and bakers come from the Farmville area to not only make a profit from their hard work, but to bring the community fresh, locally grown or made products to the public.

They begin at the end of April and continue through the end of October. The vendors just ended their season, but they should be commended for their labor throughout the year. There is a lot of hard work that goes into making this unique event happen each week.

Not only do vendors spend time — in the rain or shine — assisting customers and trying to sell their goods, but they spend hours preparing for Saturday mornings.

They have to think ahead at planting time and buy enough seeds to produce food for their families and for paying customers. They have to watch over their chickens and keep them protected throughout the year so that they will be able to make a profit off of their eggs. Vendors take the time to bake breads, cookies, pies and other sweets so that their customers won’t have to. They craft for hours on end making decorations and accessories that their customers come back for each year.

They put in the time to bring customers items that they will love. They do it for the pride, the happiness of the customer and for a little extra cash that they can save up for something special.

Marketplace vendors deserve thanks from the community for bringing us products that are made locally from love and dedication, not from areas of the world that we have never even heard of. They treat our community with care, and they want us to be a healthier community.

HANNAH DAVIS is sports editor of The Farmville Herald and editor of The Charlotte Gazette and The Kenbridge-Victoria Dispatch. Her email address is hannah.davis@farmvilleherald.com.