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What
Builds a Community?
What
builds a community are peoples faith in those that lead
it.
*Note: To give credit where
credit is due. Initially a few folks were written asking them
to send in stories or thoughts on Mr.
Vernon Burnett. One of them, Sola Opa
(textiles, Scravelous) wrote back with, " I will definitely do
that! I think it would be a good idea if you randomly interviewed
a selection of people in the schoolyard one Sunday. I don't believe
that you will get a negative response from one
person!!"
But, I go back in the day, so I
did what she asked only I started across the street on the side of
the market with'....
Mitch Phulsuksombat
( importer, 18 years at the Market) he said of Vernon
Burnett, "One of the best managers we ever had. He knows what he is
doing. He is a very good communicator, four
stars."
Marlien Lane (Founding exhibitor since 1978) "What a
gentleman, kind, good man, I don't think that man ever got angry,
very considerate, very fair, very smart
man".
Pia Pulsuksombat ( wife of Mitch, 18 years at EM) "Very
polite, he uses his words nicely, when my daughter was going to
college he gave her a book (There daughter like Mr. Burnett is a
scientist)
Becky Mensah (Founding exhibitor
since 1978) "He is a good fellow, respectable , he listens to you.
He works things out with the vendors. He is very polite. I like
the way he says things."
Kamlesh Choksey (18 years exhibitor)
"Vert calm personality, very cool person"
Patsy Cahill(importer 5 years than at the Market) " When
I think of Vernon he to me is the quintessential gentleman. He is
always calm and fair."
Allen
Small(18 years
exhibitor) "When
I think of Vernon the first thing that comes to mind is his hat,
just like Indiana Jones or crocodile Dundee
J he
always seems to have a pleasant attitude and a fair sense of being.
In all the years at the market that has never changed. It has been
a pleasure to come to work and have Vernon be a part of the market
and management team, I hope he's around for many years to
come...."
Sulaiman Abdul-Basir (20 years exhibitor) "A real nice guy. One
of his qualities is fairness. He looks for justice in
situations."
Tracey King( 7 years exhibitor) " Everybody know he is
such a nice guy. He is considerate. He gives everyone a fair
chance. He is even mannered and even tempered"
Mazhar Erteken( 7 years + exhibitor)
"He is the best person you have ever met. He know what he is
doing. He is honest. He is very professional. He makes everybody
happy. He is a good friend. He is the best man I ever know in my
life. He is very lovable. "
Mohamed
El Rafai(10 year + exhibitor)"Tries to
be fair to everybody. God bless his heart and I hope he has a long
life"
Bernc
Rodman(newbe to the market) "you can
see by the comments he does a good job" Ms. Rodman was standing
next to Mr. El Rafai .
Jen & Mike Burzynski( 20 years
exhibitors) "He is a hell of a gentleman. Endless patience. He
don't get mad. I have nothing but good words to say about him-Even
if you payed me I would not say anything bad about him." Jen
added," he is also a good farmer"
Amanu Itomi(Newbie to the Market, 2
years)"He is very humble. I think he is fair with vendors at
Eastern Market. I think he has a warm spirit. I call him the
scientist of Eastern Market."
Curtis Baity( 16 years at the
market) "Vernon has always been a person that is even knelled. He
greets you with a smile and a hardy handshake. He is pleasant, kind
and considerate."
Tom Rall(Founder and manager of The
Flea Market at Eastern Market 27 years + at the market) "My family
and I have certainly benefited greatly from our
relationship."
Sola Opa(7 years + exhibitor at the
market)
"I have always found Vernon to be the
most even-tempered guy. I have only
seen him get really mad at a
vendor once, and you can bet that the vendor
deserved it! He tries to find
the time every Sunday to visit with vendors
in their booths, and to answer
any questions or address any concerns that
we might have. He makes going
to the market every Sunday a pleasure."
Larry Gallo(18 year exhibitor at the market) "I think
he is the epitome of a gentleman. A respected leader at Eastern
Market and the Flea Market. I think he has great respect for
exhibitors. He is the calmest person I have ever
met."
Dorothy Kadosh(15 year exhibitor at
the market) "I love Vernon. He is a really personable guy. He is
able to swim through discord like it is nothing. He was one of the
first people who ever respected me professionally. I think he
respects everybody. I love the guy."
Lynn Holland(founding exhibitor since 1978) When ask her
thoughts on Vernon she replied he is," a gentleman, earnest, does a
good job and charming.
Barbara Watson(15 year exhibitor at the market) She said
of Vernon he was the,"first person I met at Eastern Market, he
welcome me and my husband Larry to the market. He is philosophical
and has a fabulous sense of humor."
Mary Belcher(15 year exhibitor at the market) She told
me that Mr. Burnett is,"always friendly, always smiling, he is just
a really warm person."
Debe Faller(founding exhibitor eastern market 1980)"He
is delightful. When I set up next to him and his wife in the mid
1990's I could always count on him for intelligent
conversation."
John DeFabbio( 7 years+ at the market) Vernon is," a
great guy, personable and always nice to be
around."
Sonda T. Allen(19 year exhibitor at the market) "Vernon is
a great listener. He is open to everyone. He is a Renaissance man,
that is to say, a mixture of Arthur Ash with his love of fencing
and squash and Ben Carson with love of science, flute playing and
chess with just a touch of Colin Powell with his personal
discipline, upright posture and long military service. He is
elegant, gracious and gentle."
Paul Biermen(12 year exhibitor at the market) "I love
him. Vernon has just always been so fair and good to me. We (Paul,
Vernon and Steve Reiner) work the Sunday cross word puzzle in the
paper. Vernon is just a good guy."
Marta Vindiola(20 anos expositora al
mercado, jubilada) Ella lo dijo sobre Vernon que,"Recuerdo a Vernon
con mucho carino, una figura importante en Eastern Market.
Inicialmente un colega muy sociable que ayudaba con su consejo a
todos en el Mercado del Sabado. Todo un caballero a quien le
gustaba filosofar a la entrada de Eastern Market y podia pasar las
horas platicando sobre cualquier tema interesante. Un par de anos
despues Vernon asistia organizando a los vendedores y cobrando las
cuotas. Recuerdo tambien sus exquisitos disfraces en el baile
tradicional de Halloween, en los cuales no se le reconocia. Vernon
siempre tenia una sonrisa para sus colegas y un saludo cortes para
los visitantes a Eastern Market. Me alegro mucho que estemos
celebrando a Vernon mientras todavia comparte su tiempo en el
Mercado. Un abrazo para el de Marta E.
Vindiola"
John Millen(10 year exhibitor at the
market, retired) He wrote that one of his favorite activities on a
slow Saturday was playing chess with Vernon,"I have fond memories
of Vernon and I plus Winn (a Vietnamese artist at the market)
playing intense games of Chinese chess oblivious of most of what
was going on around us. Even in the dead of Winter, we would play
all day long on Saturdays huddled next to the portable gas heater.
Winn taught us how to play and we noticed immediately the
philosophic differences between Chinese chess and Western chess. Of
particular note was the fact that there was no Queen in Chinese
chess. We had great fun talking about that!"
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Vernon Burnett on
Eastern Market:
" It comes into being once a week
and vanishes with the Sunday sunset. You can search far and wide
but you won't find another exactly like it. There is a unique meld
of Cultures, serendipitous encounters, and an unprecedented collage
of personalities. Because it occurs once a week, one can't wait for
the next occurrence, which provides the excitement of continuing an
interrupted conversations, or seeing an old friend. Being a center
of shopping and communal activity, it is alive with aromas, street
sounds, voices, and musical melodies. We keep returning, like
pinching ourselves, to see if it's real."
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Vernon Burnett "back in the day"
and his thoughts
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(photo: Market 5
archives)
Vernon
Burnett and Nguyen Cao Nguyen
playing chess at Market 5 Gallery
Eastern Market
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"Wow! That's a young Vernon and Nguyen Cao
Nguyen.
Every Saturday and Sunday we'd play Chinese
Chess, for hours sometimes. People would watch, trying to figure
out what the game was. The board and pieces aren't representative
of western chess. A fantastic game taught by Master Painter and
Chinese chess player Nguyen Cao Nguyen. That's the kind of
inter-cultural learning and experience that thrived for years as a
result of John's and Tom's openness to creating an international
ambience at the market. Those days are gone forever..."
*Mr. Burnett tells wonderful stories
about many folks he has come across and worked with at Eastern
Market. One of the most touching stories is about Rudy Coates and
"Market Joe". But I will let Vernon tell you that story when you
come by the market. I had to ask him one question, I asked, "Why
do the good guys wear hats?" For example, Johh Harrod, Rudy Coates,
Charles Ellis, David Wright, Donald Kenndy and Tom Rall. Just to
throw a few names out there of hat wearing dudes. Vernon replied
that, " Good guys wear hats for several reasons: Fashion
Statement; Vanity (Hide Balding Head); Protection From Sun;
Protection From The Hawk; and as a weapon `a la James
Bond."
In additon, one
thinks, perhaps, they ware hats to hide slightly dented and
tarnished halos or ...
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Eastern
Market: The Turtle's Webb Newsletter
