Eureka Springs' grocery stores, large and small, recognize this.

Hart's, the city's largest grocer, recognizes this when it reminds its patrons it's "more than a grocery store, it's a family center."

Many of the city's smaller grocers and convenience stores act above any conventional sense of retail sales outlets in a variety of ways largely determined by their location.

Tad's, Bunch's, Goodall's, the Inn Convenience Store and W.T. Focker & Co. Discount Grocery recall an era shortly after Eureka's boom town birth when the city was characterized by a diverse assemblage of neighborhoods.

Before the automobile, various neighborhoods had their own grocers, bars, barbers and other merchants within walking distance of their neighbors.

The owners of neighborhood stores and their customers knew each other in ways more intimate than Wal-Mart and its clientele ever will.

In addition to the many ways a place like Tad's -- to name but one example -- return value to their clients and the city at large, we have a splendid farmer's market,

Farmers' Market

The Eureka Springs Farmers' Market was established in 2004.

Vendors meet on Thursday and Tuesday mornings during the April to November season at 132 Huntsville Dr. -- Hwy. 23S -- in the parking lot of the Eureka Screams theater between Travelodge and Eureka Plumbing & Electric Supply. At the peak of the season, they have around 20 participating vendors.

The Eureka Springs Farmers' Market shows an expanded view of its role in the community by staging a number of events each year, ranging from cooking exhibitions to children's art shows to salsa contests.

This week on Thursday, from 8 a.m. to noon, the market's commUNITY gathering will highlight the contribution all local businesses make to Eureka's welfare and real cohesiveness. You should drop by if you can.

By its very nature, the Farmers' Market is local. It provides the closest possible link, outside a personal garden, between the food in the ground and the food on our table. It also allows us to take advantage of the seasonal cycle of foods and eat them at their natural time.

Be here now

There was a time when the connection between local food and community was so basic it was a given part of the fabric of everyday life.

Those were different times, of course. The more corporations have come to monopolize commerce and drive mom-and-pops out of business, the wider has grown the gulf between farmer and merchant and customer, especially in the grocery business.

That may be changing.

The catalytic connection for this shift could be the coming sea change in transportation caused by rising fuel costs and a falling economy.

Dwindling disposable income for essentials may well impel consumers to drive less for the things they need and want.

And if the leading economic indicators are pointing in a true direction -- the Dow Jones fell more than 700 points as I wrote this -- we will be "wanting" less while "needing" more.

More than the sum of its parts

The residents of Eureka Springs are uncommonly blessed to live and shop in a hometown where a broad diversity of goods is offered locally by neighbors whose names, faces and generosity are known.

In typical Eurekan fashion, many of the city's most involved supporters of these community endeavors, large and small, do not want public recognition.

Read between the lines. Eureka's largest grocery store is the largest donor in its industry locally.

Among the smaller players in the grocery world, the little guys find creative ways to serve those whom they count as neighbors.

And the Farmers' Market is a great example of what is best about life here.

Ah Eureka.

With any luck, as the world shrinks, Eurekans will come closer together. We always have. Not a bad place to be when the hammer comes down.

-- Vernon Tucker