On a Saturday morning in the courthouse parking lot, vendors arrive early with their stands of vegetables and baked goods. Across the road, Ad Astra brews a fresh selection of coffee for its full day at the market.
From May to October, Saturdays in Hillsdale are home to the Hillsdale Farmers Market from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., with booths full of anything from handmade art to colorful produce. Now, Ad Astra offers rich coffee to pair with a morning stroll through the market.
Around 8 a.m., Hillsdale College alumnus Morgan Morrison ‘21 is hard at work at Ad Astra Roasters preparing the day’s roasts.
Ad Astra came to Hillsdale in summer 2020, and was founded in Fort Scott, Kansas, in 2018. Co-founder Patrick Whalen’s family grew up in Hillsdale, and co-founder Kristi Whalen ’07 graduated from Hillsdale College.
“The farmers market was the best way for us to get our name out there when we first moved to Hillsdale,” Kristi said. “We moved the business here in the middle of the COVID-19 lockdown, so when the farmers market opened up the next month, it proved a great way to let everyone know who we were and what we were doing.”
Morrison said he is excited to connect the College and the town through Ad Astra’s coffee, specifically at the farmers market.
“Even though Ad Astra is connected with the College through the Whalens and myself, because of the farmers market we’ve been able to build an equally strong following among people from the town,” Morrison said. “We’re a specialty coffee company for the town, the college, and hopefully, many more places as our business grows. Bringing the two together is my favorite part of the job.”
Once the day’s coffee is brewed and ready to go, Morrison loads up his gold sedan and drives up to the courthouse parking lot to set up the Ad Astra booth. With a tent and a table full of drip coffee and coffee beans, the farmers market officially opens.
Not only does Ad Astra serve those who come to the market every so often, there are also many regulars of Ad Astra’s stall.
“You’d have to have a Rolodex-brain to keep track of all our regulars,” Morrison said. “Mike is always our first customer of the morning. He helps his wife with the baked goods stand next to ours and always hassles me about showing up later and later each week.”
Some parishioners from St. Anthony’s Catholic church walk straight over to the farmers market after Saturday 8 a.m. mass and grab a cup of coffee from Ad Astra’s booth.
“There’s Tony who carries his adorable long-hair chihuahua and always gets a cup of cold brew,” Morrison said. “One lady hassles me each week about providing biscottis and stirring sticks for the cream and sugar.”
Ad Astra also serves regulars from the College.
“We’ve got all of the academic disciplines covered, from Dr. Jordan in English, the Yosts in History, Dr. Owens in Classics, and Dr. Heckel and Dr. Pytel in Biology,” Morrison said. “There are also several grad students who always congregate around the front of our booth and talk politics for what seems like hours.”
Before Morisson was hired, Kristi ran the stall for Ad Astra. Kristi also has many favorite stories of excited customers.
“My favorite experience probably was when a woman tasted our coffee for the first time, she almost teared up and said, ‘This is so good, I’m having an emotional experience!’” Kristi said.
Caroline Greb ‘21 began selling her watercolors and prints at the market this summer and has loved having Ad Astra right around the parking lot corner.
“The farmers market has been such a wonderful part of my summer,” Greb said. “Whether simply meeting more people and hearing their stories, passing my name on for commissioned works, or sharing my love for beauty with my neighbors, it’s given me a huge platform to network more within the Hillsdale community.”
For the vendors, however, the farmers market is more than a place to share specialty coffee or hand picked fruits and vegetables or local art. It’s a place to see the Hillsdale community come together and share their passions with one another for a few hours every single week.
“My favorite part of the market was witnessing the real manifestation of community in the little town of Hillsdale,” Kristi said. “I enjoyed talking to everyone, not just the customers but the other vendors as well. I enjoyed seeing how, for a lot of people, it wasn’t just about buying things but was truly a social event.”