Tending Community: Our MVP, Emma
By Perris Reed on August 14, 2026 from Tending Community
One of the best parts of my first season as Market Manager has been getting to know the people who show up every Sunday and make BFM2 what it is. And this week, I want to give a very public shoutout to one of our MVPs: Emma Ahmed.
Emma is a junior at Bridgeport High School, and nearly every Sunday morning, she shows up with a big smile on her face and jumps right in. And thank goodness she does, because we are officially more than halfway through the season and I think it is safe to say that we are all getting pretty dang tired! 
Those tent weights alone are no joke on a Sunday morning. Having a 16-year-old with a much younger and stronger back around to help with them is enough to make me want to cry tears of joy sometimes. But honestly, I would love having Emma around even if she never lifted a single tent weight.
She is just a lovely human to be around.
She loves the kids who run around the market. She talks to vendors. She helps wherever she is needed. She laughs with us, and our Sunday morning conversations can go from market logistics to completely random topics in about 30 seconds. She brings a positive energy with her every week, and I think everyone who spends time at the market has felt it.
Last Sunday, Emma brought her grandparents over to the welcome tent to show them around. Watching that made me smile because I could tell that she feels the same kind of pride in what we are doing on Sundays that I do. She told me recently that the farmers market is the best part of her Sundays.
What a great thing to hear! A 16-year-old who actually wants to get up early on a Sunday morning to spend it with us is pretty special.
Emma loves helping her community, and she certainly puts that into practice. When she isn't at BFM2, she stays pretty busy. She is a swimmer at Bridgeport High School and also swims with the Mountain State Storm Team at The Bridge Sports Complex. She works as a lifeguard at The Bridge and the City Pool, and she teaches swim lessons.
Basically, I think she has more energy than the rest of us combined.
Emma just turned 16, and of course I wanted to make a bigger deal about her birthday than she probably would have preferred. She is much more comfortable being the person helping behind the scenes than being the center of attention. So, despite my desire to get the whole market to sing to her, we kept the birthday celebration pretty low-key. ??
But it got me thinking about how much I appreciate this delightful human. She may not want a spotlight, but I think the people who quietly show up, help out and make their community better deserve to know that we notice.
I tell Emma all the time how much I appreciate her, usually while we are laughing about something or trying to get through another busy Sunday morning. But this week, I wanted the whole community to know.
So, Bridgeport, help me give Emma a round of applause.
Thank you, Emma, for showing up, jumping in, making us laugh, loving our little market and helping make BFM2 a better place every Sunday.
We are so lucky to have you.
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