SACRAMENTO, CA (MPG) - The GreenHaven Pocket Farmers Market, located in the parking lot of Sacramento Elks Lodge No. 6 on Riverside Boulevard, has a reputation as a place where families can walk or bike to get groceries on weekend mornings. This year will be no different, with the market opening for its fourth season on Sunday, April 6, at 9 a.m.

For the first two years at the GreenHaven Pocket Farmers Market, Victor “Vic” Cima had a booth at the west end where he could view the entire market. He was the market general manager, overseeing approximately thirty volunteers.

Cima was extremely happy to see families enjoying each other's company. On those early mornings, Stephen “Steve” Clazie would join Vic at his booth. They were good friends who shared many things in common. They both had been married for almost sixty years and each had two daughters. 

They would both say the other was "a crusty, cantankerous old man." Vic would tell people that Steve didn’t look too bad for a guy who was “93” and that he was so old his sister-in-law had been a student at Hiram Johnson High School when Mr. Clazie taught there in the 1960s. Vic also wanted to know if Steve married one of his students. 

These two always had fun giving each other a razzing.

Clazie and Cima are both in their early 80s, and in 2024, both had to stop volunteering at the GreenHaven Pocket Farmers Market for health reasons. While Cima had been the general manager, Clazie wrote stories about promoting the market. Cima claims Clazie would phone him or send an email at two or three in the morning with a good story idea. Clazie says it was emails only. No phone calls.

They are both back this year. Vic will tell Steve that he is looking forward to seeing him on Sunday mornings, but then he will add that he likes talking to his wife. The Clazies will once again enjoy breakfast from Sweetbriar's Bakery.

Cima will once again nag Steve to go get his wife another cup of coffee, and Steve will be telling Vic he better remember the date of his anniversary. It is just two old men razzing each other and pretending not to be friends.

Clazie’s wife Joan always enjoyed Vic giving her husband a hard time, and especially that she ever looked young enough to be one of his students. Both Clazies did their student teaching at Hiram Johnson. They both also taught at Johnson, but not at the same time. Mrs. Clazie tells Mr. Clazie, “You can’t give someone a hard time and not expect to get it back!”

Previously, one of Clazie’s ideas was to feature a photo of Cima in a cabbage-patch costume to promote the children’s Halloween contest. Prizes were given for the best child veggie or fruit costume. Each of the three winners received three tickets for a free Elks Sunday breakfast, which is a $50 value. 

The photo of Cima became famous and was even published in the Elks national magazine. Thousands of copies of it were sent to families in the Greenhaven-Pocket area. Cima did not always appreciate the poster and said next year they could eliminate his image. Cima felt the photo had become too famous.

Cima told Clazie he did a good job, but that he did not want to hear from him about another story idea until he got them publicity in the New York Times. Clazie discovered that the New York Times publishes submissions of local feature stories from across the nation. He submitted the Halloween story with Vic’s photo. Then he found out that the only way they would know if the story and photo were published was to take a subscription to the Times. That’s when these two "crusty, cantankerous old men” started arguing over how they were too cheap to pay for a subscription.

Clazie and Cima both agree on some things. They both like the story about the corn farmer. They want people to remember and think about the farmer who gave his best seed corn to his neighbors. Cima loves to tell the story about the “Corn Farmer,” and Clazie says it might be a true story. It really doesn’t matter; for both of them, it is the moral that is important.

With a broad smile on his face, Cima explains, “Every year the farmer took home the state fair prize for the best corn crop. I asked him what his secret was for his success and discovered some fascinating information about how he grew it.”

Cima says that the farmer gave his neighbors some seed grain. I was surprised and asked, “How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbors when they enter corn in competition with yours each year?”

“Why, sir,” the farmer asked, “didn’t you know? Pollen from the maturing corn is gathered by the wind. It is carried from field to field. If my neighbors grow subpar corn, the cross-pollination will slowly reduce the quality of my corn. I must assist my neighbors in growing good corn if I want to cultivate good corn myself.”

Cima continues and says the GreenHaven Pocket Farmers Market believes the value of a life is determined by the lives it touches. If we desire to live purposefully and successfully, then we must contribute to enhancing the lives of others.”

And by the way, this is not the time of year to get corn. Cima notes, “All the vegetables sold at the market are locally grown. They are freshly picked and not shipped in from some foreign country.” He also said, “We have improved our fruit and vegetable selections and will be offering microgreens.”

Clazie added, “I can hardly wait for the fresh Watsonville strawberries to be in season.