First day of the LMH market season sees huge turnout
Ribbon cut commemorates 10 years in the community
 

[May 19, 2025]  On Saturday, May 17th, the opening day of the LMH Market was celebrated not only as the opening day, but as the beginning of the 10th year of the market. To commemorate the milestone, a special ribbon cutting ceremony was held 10 minutes prior to the opening.

At that ribbon cut, Lincoln Mayor Tracy Welch read a proclamation by the Lincoln City Council that had been passed earlier at one of the council voting sessions.

There were several people on hand for this cut including Welch, city aldermen Stan Anderson, Kevin Bateman, Dennis Clemons , Steve Parrott, Lincoln City Clerk Peggy Bateman, Logan County Board members Lance Conahan, Hannah Fitzpatrick, Kathy Schmidt, Little Miss Logan County Olivia Harsen and 2024 Miss Logan County Fair Queen Abbie Arnold.

Representing Lincoln Memorial Hospital and the LMH market was hospital administrator Dolan Dalpoas, President and CEO of Memorial Health Mandy Eaton, Angela Stoltzenburg, LMH Foundation chair Molly McCain, and Market Manager Jaimie Jones.

After a brief introduction, the microphone was turned over to Welch who read the proclamation.
 

The next person to speak was Dalpoas. “When we started this in 2016 we did it for all the right reasons. We did it to drive healthy foods, to drive wellness, to drive screenings, to promote an overall approach to health that transcends the walls of the hospital.

“I am proud of the people who bought into that vision. There are too many to name names, but I will say the board of directors of the hospital, the board of directors for the foundation for their support of the last 10 years. Then there is the Logan County Fairground which has been an outstanding partner in all this. Memorial Health and I am thrilled to have Mandy Eaton here today the new CEO of Memorial Health. It shows commitment outside Lincoln to the region for health and wellness outside the walls of the hospital.

“To say I thought this would be the result after 10 years, I am a little bit surprised about the numbers that Mayor Welch just reported. So I want to thank the community for supporting us. I don’t see this as an end point; I see this as a steppingstone to continue to drive health in the community.”

The next person to address the group was Logan County Board member Kathy Schmidt. “I just wanted to say I know you started this out as a health food thing, but the way it has brought the community together has really stood out to me, the way it has brought people together. And it has been a Saturday morning thing that has just been massively successful.”

The final speaker was market director Jaimie Jones. “I just wanted to thank the health system for believing in me and the market. It was a big risk to do this, but I am so proud of the people who have come before me. It is such a special place in my heart. I look out on the crowd and see all of you that I’ve met at the market and established a special relationship and I love you all so much. So thankful for Angie (Angela Stoltzenburg) and Molly (Molly McCain) and Sarah Helm, she’s been a good resource for me and [so has] Dolan. I just thank everybody.”

All the volunteers who help out each year at the market were also acknowledged and Jones reminded the huge crowd waiting in line for the market to open that the market was giving away free tee shirts as long as supplies lasted.

Then it was time for the posed picture and the countdown to the snip. When the countdown reached the final word, Dalpoas snipped the ribbon on the first day of the 10th season of the LMH Market.

On this day, the line of shoppers waiting to get in was perhaps the longest it had ever been in the history of the market. It lined the walkway from the gravel road to the building and extended down the road to the north for quite some distance. As folks entered it seemed that the line was growing longer instead of shorter, and inside it was shoulder to shoulder people as shoppers began the circular trip around the first barn visiting each vendor booth and checking out all that was offered.

The market will run each Saturday throughout the summer with the opening bell at 8 a.m. sharp and the final sale at approximately noon.

Nila Smith