Warrior Day, held at downtown Turlock’s Saturday Certified Farmers Market, offered local shoppers and vendors the opportunity to learn more about Stan State while also encouraging students to engage with the community.
Stan State cultural anthropology professor, Richard Wallace, is a member of the market’s board of directors and has helped Warrior Day come to fruition. Wallace explained the idea behind the day’s events and what he hopes could result from it.
“We’ve always wanted to find ways to strengthen the relationship between the university and the city. We wanted to have the opportunity for Stanislaus’ organizations to talk about some of their programs and promote some of their activities. At the same time, we want the Stan community to come out on their free time and enjoy themselves out here,” Wallace explained.
One of the organizations that took advantage of this opportunity was Stan State’s “Science in Our Community” program.
“Our program is dedicated to promoting science to K-12 students. We sometimes go to different schools and hold tons of events and do science activities with the community,” Daisy Hernandez from the Science in Our Community program stated.
“It’s good to get young kids interested in the sciences early on. We wanted to come out and show the community that science can be fun,” Stan State alumnus and Science in Our Community member, Sunpreet Kau, added. 
Stan State students and alumni don’t only attend the farmers market to promote campus programs and organizations, but they attend as shoppers and vendors every Saturday throughout the farmers market season, which is from early May to the end of September every year.
Kelly Ziya (freshman, Pre-Nursing) is an employee of Chessie’s Dreamery, a local bakery that specializes in scratch-made, gluten free goods. She has run the business’ booth every weekend at the farmers market for two seasons now.
Ziya was very excited about Warrior Day and spoke about what it means to see a day at the weekly market being devoted to her school.
“I just like coming here and seeing people dressed up in their Stan State gear. People get to see how involved Stan State actually is, not only on campus, but outside of it and in the community,” Ziya said.
Veronica Gonzalez, of Pablo’s Premium Salsa, has sold her homemade salsa at the Turlock farmers market for about 10 years. She says that she appreciates the city’s efforts to bring more young people downtown and hopes that this event can help her business obtain new customers.
Emily Adler, from the local homemade jelly company Jars of Delicious, was a college student herself and also enjoys the idea of the market’s effort to cater to the campus community.
She believes that the farmers market is great for providing students with healthier food options and alternatives. Stan State alumnus, Jacob Copple, couldn’t agree with Adler’s thoughts more.
“There’s a variety of foods here that have been grown right here in the area. They offer a lot of healthier and organic things and I love that you can really support something that’s local,” Copple said.
Wallace also stressed how the farmers market is not only an economic event, but a community and social event. It is something that gravitates many people, including Anaelyssa Gonzalez and Lauren Edh from Valeria Jewelry.
“My favorite things about coming here is meeting and talking with different people. You get to catch up with some of the regular customers every weekend and also have the chance to meet new people all the time,” Gonzalez explained. “It’s what I think makes the farmer’s market so unique.”
Wallace believes that Warrior Day at the farmers market can help further build a connection between Turlock residents and Stan State’s campus community and hopes for more of these types of events in the future.