Jody Bergan Bennett and her sister, both natives of Ames, were looking for a way to bring a unique, market-style shopping experience to the community of Ames and the students at Iowa State.

After seeing the success that her sister had with the Horseshoe Craft & Flea Market, a popular open-air market in Denver, Bennett and her sister decided that Ames would be the perfect community to host their newest “pop-up” seasonal market, the Lucky Star Market.

“Ames is really cool; so many times we go outside of Ames to find neat things to do, everyone from students to older people in our community, so we thought, let’s just bring something like that here,” said Bennett, the marketing director for the Lucky Star Market.

Saturday, the Lucky Star Market will be hosted at the Prairie Moon Winery and Prairie Bloom Farm in Ames from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. for people from anywhere and of any age to come and enjoy.

While the majority of the vendors are from the Ames area, there are many others coming from all over the state of Iowa, including Des Moines, Fairfield and Iowa City, and even one from Madison, Wis.

In all, there will be about 40 vendors at the market, each showcasing their unique, handmade, vintage products. Even one current ISU student, Kalli LeVasseur, senior in advertising, will have a booth set up at the Lucky Star Market to exhibit her work.

Walking around and checking out all of the different vendors is not the only form of entertainment provided by the Lucky Star Market.

“It’s a family-friendly event, so we will have ornament making for the kids, trolley rides through the vineyard and an old-fashioned Santa will be visiting,” Bennett said. “A lot of cross collaboration of different age ranges in the community are coming together for this.”

“We’re kind of trying to make it a European-style market where people come and talk, eat, drink, hangout and just enjoy the festive atmosphere,” Bennett said.

There will also be a sorority at the event handing out cups of hot chocolate in hopes of getting donations toward a good cause.

“We’re going to be handing out hot chocolate, and then anyone who wants to donate can, and all of the money we raise will go to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital,” said Alexis Rokes, senior in interior design and student volunteer for the event.

Many Ames area businesses, including The Cafe, The Fighting Burrito, Ignite Yoga, Wheatsfield Cooperative and Jennings Real Estate Team, played a major role in helping get the event started by sponsoring the Lucky Star Market, Bennett said. 

There are about 20 ISU student volunteers getting involved with the event, and Bennett said she hopes that the Lucky Star Market will help to bridge the gap between the Ames community and the ISU students.

“I think this will be an opportunity for Iowa State students and groups to be more involved,” Bennett said. “Students in different groups and majors could see this as a way to get real-life experience and also get into the community in a safe environment with a lot of support.”

If everything goes well and the event is well-received, Bennett said she hopes to continue to hold the event more frequently in the future.