High Five: Rusty Keele

A sure sign of spring is seeing the Rusty’s Produce tent go up on this busy corner in April (it closes in October). My mouth waters as I contemplate the splendid summer fruit and vegetables to come. Rusty always gets the cream of the crop.

Apart from luscious produce, whose fragrance permeates the tent, the best part of the Rusty’s experience is Rusty himself. This ebullient, bustling man in his signature sunglasses and ball cap has a contagious enthusiasm, whether he’s offering samples or explaining a variety and its source.

“The corn is fresh every day,” he says. Several varieties come from local growers in the Valley.

Rusty moved from Colorado and set up shop here in 1989 to have close access to snow-skiing.

He enjoys interacting with a variety of people, through whom, he says, he “keeps a finger on the pulse of the community.”

And his customers appreciate him; when his tent was blown down in a freak windstorm last summer, they gave sympathy and financial help. “They were great,” he told me then.

Rusty was always outgoing.

“My mom told me I never met a stranger,” he says. His parents encouraged a happy spirit, saying laughter was the best medicine.

Peaches and laughter – I can’t think of a happier recipe for summer.