A week ago Saturday, Pioneer hosted its monthly Market Under the Lights event in Hogansville. The once-a-month gathering of artists, craftsmen and local foodies has become a staple of the small community in short order, as August was just the fourth month the event has been held. As a first-time attendee, I was struck not only by the number of people present, but by the quality of the space that has been developed in Hogansville.

Being relative newcomers to LaGrange and the Troup County area, my wife and I are still very much in the exploratory faze of our move here. I can now get to the newspaper office, Home Depot, Brickhouse Grille, both Chick-fil-A locations and Walmart without the use of my phone’s GPS, which is a step in the right direction, but I’ll be the first to admit I’m a long way from being considered a local. Hearing about this event taking place in Hogansville was a perfect opportunity for me and Mary Holland to experience another element of local life, as we continue to explore our still-new surroundings.

As a native of a southern town larger than Hogansville but smaller than LaGrange, I was extremely curious to see what we were going to be walking into. How well put together the event was going to be was a mystery to me.

I was pleasantly surprised to see there were approximately 150 people at the event when we showed up, milling about drinking coffee or a local Wild Leap beer and eating from one of the many food vendors present. Besides being well attended, however, what struck me most was the space itself, and how well it has been developed by Pioneer.

With overhead lights strewn across the alleyway where most of the foot traffic was found, vendors set up and a great local band entertaining the crowd, it was refreshing and exciting to see such a strong crowd taking advantage of a great idea.

Pioneer, the company responsible for putting these events on, has been a primary driver of economic resurgence in the Hogansville area. Young, talented and smart individuals have come together to breathe life into a small southern town, and the Market Day Under the Lights event is just one of the intelligent decisions the company has made.

Hogansville, and specifically Pioneer — job well done. You’ve made a fan out of me, and I can’t wait to attend next month’s event.