By Nancy Huddleston, Editor 

Ask Jack Gerten how the new farmers’ market is going downtown and you can’t get him to stop talking.

“It’s gone very, very well this first year,” he said, “There’s a lot of community support, and we’re seeing that the number of people coming to this market in the first year are more like the numbers we see in the second year of a market.”

Gerten estimates between 1,400 to 1,500 people come out each Sunday to buy goods from about 25 vendors in the town square parking lot between Highway 13 and 123rd Street. And it’s these numbers that convinced him to extend the market into the fall, when typically he would have shut it down just after Labor Day.

“Attendance was so high that we’d like to keep things going until the middle of October,” Gerten said. “We’ll at least go to Oct. 15 and then it’s week by week, depending upon how cold it gets.”

The fall market will feature apples, apple cider, squash, pumpkins, cranberries, jams, Indian corn, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, honey, bakery items and flowers (fresh and dried).

When the idea of a farmers’ market was first tossed around by the city, it was envisioned to be an event that drew people to downtown and created a synergy with nearby businesses. According to Assistant City Administrator Scott Somers, that’s exactly what happened.

“People are making the market part of their weekend,” he said, “It’s a great way to enjoy downtown by strolling the market, going into the depot and then visiting other downtown businesses.”

One of the reasons Somers feels the market has gotten off to a successful start in its first year is that it’s open on Sundays. “We considered Wednesdays but then went to Sundays to try and pull customers from St. John the Baptist Church after Sunday services,” he said. “And we’re finding that people wander down after church and spend more time downtown.”

As well, several downtown businesses that weren’t open on Sundays have extended their hours, Somers noted.

And artists from the Savage Art Studios set up at the market and paint, which has drawn a lot of attention. “It’s very interesting to see an audience gathered around the artists in a half-moon shape just watching,” he said.

Gerten said he plans to bring the market back next spring with the same growers and maybe more. There’s room for 35 growers in the parking lot, and during the summer 25 spots have been used.

 Nancy Huddleston can be reached at editor@savagepacer.com.

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