Welcome to the Farmers and Artisans Market of Lockhart 

President

Gary Dickenson

Gary's career started in 1974 after graduating from Texas A&M with a degree in Animal Science, helping to manage a 28,000 head feedyard in the Panhandle. In 1984 he went to work for Pioneer HiBred, Intl as a Microbial Specialist, then as District Sales Manager and Crop Consultant. In 2015, he was selected as Man Of the Year in Texas Agriculture for District 10 by the Texas County Agents Association. Gary is also the current President of the Caldwell County Agriculture Committee, the Caldwell County Leadership Advisory Board, and the Luling Foundation Board of Directors, and is Captain of the Area GoTexan HLSR District 8 and involved with the Caldwell County A&M club Gig’Em/Hook’Em fundraising golf tournament. He and his wife, Sue, who was born and raised here, have called Lockhart home since 1988. Together they have a small cattle operation, 250 pecan tree orchard, and own and operate 2D woodworks. When they aren’t making cutting boards, or working with cattle, or pecans Gary and Sue enjoy “lake time” or traveling to new destinations in Texas.

Vice President

Katy Kemp

Katy is a part owner and operator of Kemp Angus Farm, LLC in Staples, Texas. While she grew up working the family’s cattle in the north Texas area, she is now the 5th generation to call the Caldwell County area home. She attended Texas A&M University for her undergraduate degree in Animal Science and Oklahoma State University for a Masters of Agricultural Communications. She’s heavily involved in agriculture in the state of Texas and nationally. She’s interned for the American Angus Association and Certified Angus Beef, and is currently the Director of Branding and Social Strategies for Cultivate Agency, an agri-marketing agency. She sits on the Texas Angus Association Board of Directors and is an alumna of the Governor Dolph Briscoe Jr., Texas Agricultural Lifetime Leadership (TALL) Program Cohort XVII. Katy has been involved in attending farmers markets since 2018 and mostly enjoys talking with customers and answering questions about the beef they sell. She hopes to bring some agricultural production experience and marketing guidance to the Farmers & Artisans Market of Lockhart, while allowing the market to be a place where local small businesses thrive and can help provide goods to the local community.

Secretary/Treasurer

Tara Bittner

Tara is co-owner/operator of Chaparral Cultivation Emporium LLC with her husband, Mike. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Horticulture from Texas A&M University. Her and her husband have cultivated and grown plants since 1996. As a small nursery, Tara and Mike have both had different careers on the side of their nursery business in the last 27 years. Tara has worked in the banking industry and then as a pharmacy technician until 2021. Growing up, Tara learned to crochet from her Grandmother and continues to practice her craft today! In the fall of 2019, Her and Mike started attending markets to sell their plants, homemade goods, jams, jellies and crochet items, and haven't stopped! They attend many different farmers markets and seasonal markets around the area. Along with plants and crochet items, they can their own produce from their garden and other local farms. Tara and Mike have lived in Lytton Springs since 1996 and have 4 daughters and a son. In her free time, Tara reads/listens to audiobooks while canning and crocheting.

Board Member

Kelly Strong

Clem is the artist and owner of Mighty Warrior Creations.

Board Member

Frankie Cavazos

Frankie is a local beekeeper and homesteader in Caldwell County who owns and operates Break of Dawn Ranch. 

Board Member

Leslie Collier

Leslie is the owner and baker of Keto Delights in Lockhart. She's a long-standing vendor of farmers markets and owns a storefront in Lockhart.