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The Kincardine Farmers' Market has a strong past and present and a
bright future.
That was the word from the "Spirits" that visited Kincardine council
Wednesday night (Dec. 16), during the public forum.
Janice McKean, representing the past, said the farmers' market opened on
the May 24 weekend in 2005, with two or three vendors huddled out of the
wind beside the pavilion in Connaught Park, at the bottom of Broadway in
Kincardine.
"The Kincardine Agricultural Society has offered us encouragement and a
place to sell our produce," she said. "Right now the market is laid to
rest through the winter but in the spring, it will break out into bud
and blossom."
McKean said the market was so successful that first year that some
customers were waiting for it to open at 9 a.m. every Saturday. By 2007,
it had outgrown that area of the parking lot and now sets up on either
side and under the eave of the former horseracing barn.
Murray Johnson spoke on behalf of the present and said the market has
doubled in size, with eight regular vendors, including Anderkin
Products, The Ark Farm, Johnson Farm, Sarah Kuepfer, Kurt Hicks, Grant
Robinson and Sarah Slater, the Zondervans, and Joan and John Gillespie.
Plus, several young vendors join the market through the season and
others come and go as they have crops available.
The market now runs 9 a.m. to noon every Saturday from the May 24
weekend to Thanksgiving and regular customers are asking that it be
expanded into the afternoon, said Johnson.
McKean returned to the podium, wearing a cloak as the Farmers' Market of
the Future. She envisions farmers' market signs everywhere, and summer
students serving a strawberry brunch to patrons of the market. "The
market will be a place where people can enjoy delicious home-grown local
produce," she said.
Linda Zondervan then unveiled a tray of delicious, homemade decadent
desserts for council members to sample.
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Janice McKean as the "Spirit of the Future of the
Kincardine Farmers' Market," and Murray Johnson (in behind)
as the "Spirit of the Present," visit Kincardine council
Linda Zondervan holds a tray of sweets for
councillor Kenneth Craig to sample
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