At table 146 next to the Harvest Room and Greensboro Municipal Credit Union’s cash machine, Margariette Graves quietly greets customers with smiles as she sells muffins, cupcakes and cakes – with or without nuts but always with smiles.
Margariette says she’s always worked. At least since she was thirteen and growing up in Columbia, SC and before she went away to Waterbury, Connecticut for school and for more work. Family ties eventually brought her to Greensboro away from Connecticut winters and Columbia summers to work at Gilbarco and the News and Record.
Margariette came to the Market eight years ago after an employee of the health food store that sold her products suggested she do so. She took a month to apply because it looked like “hard work” but she did and we’re all glad.
Among other things, she’s glad because she got to meet then candidate for president Barack Obama when he toured the Market. She’s got the picture to prove it. She’s also glad because of the many new friends she’s made in this special place. We’re all glad because we get to enjoy her baked goods and her smiles.
When she thinks about her time at the Market, she likes to bring back a memory from her early time. Donna Myers was then a coffee vendor and told Margariette that the Market was like her “church.” That feeling still fits for Margariette.
While not literally a church visit, some time with Margariette can feed your soul as well as your physical hunger.
