ANDOVER – During a regular meeting of friends, some of the problems facing the population, especially the senior population, came to the fore.
Then, a solution presented itself to Viki Allin and Catherine Sweeney in the form of the Andover Community Farmers Market, a Country Neighbor Program.
“We have meetings (at Bakery on the Square) on Saturday afternoon, with a group of women, and we were talking about the different things that have to do with the food issues that we have here, as far as a lot of people are doing the food pantry and other things like that,” Allin, who will serve as market co-master with Sweeney, said. “We started talking about SNAP and the tokens. Catherine’s a good example. She doesn’t drive and there’s a whole bunch of people in Andover who don’t drive. If you have those tokens, or if you have SNAP, you can use them at farmers’ markets, but you have to get a ride to Orwell, or you have to get a ride to the Harbor (in Ashtabula) or Warren.”
The Andover Community Farmers Market, a Country Neighbor Program, will be hosted in the village Square on Saturdays between June 13 and Sept. 5 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
“Not all farmers’ markets can take in SNAP,” Sweeney said. “Not all farmers’ markets can take in the tokens. [It’s] a senior farmers’ market nutritional plan, and that was put into effect under the federal umbrella, but you had to be financially eligible, as well as age eligible, so mostly seniors. They were sending it online so you could use it digitally with your telephone, or they would send you a card, but the card took almost three months longer to get. Seniors in the population were not getting the card in time to use it, and so I was making conversation and complaining about the inability for myself and neighbors of mine to get fresh food. We just found out that the Greeneville (Pa.) Walmart delivers, but I don’t get to pick the fruit that I want.”
“I was talking with Viki, these resources are out there and they’re being cut back and cut back and cut back with the current administration, wouldn’t it be great if we could just have something here in town?” Sweeney continued.
In its first year, customers will not be able to use SNAP benefits to make purchases as setting that up takes time.
Allin and Sweeney hope to attract vendors who sell a variety of foods products including honey, eggs, maple syrup, mushrooms, flowers, fruits, vegetables, cheeses and frozen meats that they’ve grown or produced on their own farms.
“The market is farmer-centric,” Allin said. “This means it is not a craft show. This will be a farmers’ market. Vendors must grow their own produce in order to sell at the market. Farmers can have value-added products to sell, but it must be less than 50 percent of their table, so a farmer that has produce can also sell baked goods.”
Vendors looking to participate in the market are being asked for a $5 donation to set up a table.
The Square in Andover should be a great location for the market.
“I think it’s a good venue for a couple reasons,” Country Neighbor Executive Director Barb Klingensmith said. “It’s a small town. You have people who have their fresh fruits and vegetables and maybe their honey or whatever they have and give them a way to sell. But, it also brings community together, as well.”
Limiting the market to farmers and farm-produced foods leaves an opening for others to piggyback the event with something that offers more.
“This event is going to be taking place every weekend, all summer long,” Allin said. “Vendors will come and go throughout the growing season. Juggling that schedule is going to be a handful. We encourage others to organize other events to take place, on or around the Square during that time.”
Events suggested by Allin and Sweeney include sidewalk sales, chalk walks, Art in the Park, drum circles and car shows. The duo also suggests checking out summer programs at Andover Public Library.
Allin and Sweeney don’t want the Andover Community Farmers Market to be a stand-alone event. They want to connect it to other happenings in the community.
“We’re putting the farmers’ market under the shade trees, so the other aspect of that is it’s really close to the library, and the library has a summer program all summer long, where they’re using the Storybook Trail and doing stuff there,” Allin said. “We want to connect with the library and what they’re doing.”
The Square was chosen because of its accessibility and parking.
“Our other goal, obviously, is to attract business to downtown merchants,” Sweeney said. “That’s why we’ve chosen the Square. It’s highly accessible. There’s where the parking in Andover is available, and we’re hoping that that generates a lot more community.”
There will also be sponsorship opportunities.
“In my idea of inclusivity, I had hoped to have a downtown merchant sponsor, and I’m using that word loosely, to loosely sponsor a special Saturday and use a theme,” Sweeney said. “The thrift store could do a shipwreck theme or Halloween or Christmas in July, and then I would carry over the design or theme to the Square.”
“If a business sponsors, they would be featured on the website, they would be featured on the Facebook, they would be connected,” Sweeney continued.
Allin is well-suited to being a market master.
“We started our bakery inside the market house in downtown Meadville,” Allin said. “They had a market master. They had somebody that actually oversaw all of the farmers, all of the produce, everything that came into the market house, and everything that came around it. I know the role of the market master. It is very hands on with the farmers and that’s what I bring to the table.”
While Allin is managing the farmers, Sweeney will deal with the administrative end of the market and coordinating volunteers, something she enjoys.
“My passion is to just include as many parts of the community as I can,” Sweeney said. “I’ve contacted the schools and the scouts and the seniors, and I’m trying to pull together people that need inclusion in helping.”
While the Andover Community Farmers Market is going to be run by Allin and Sweeney, it is sponsored by Country Neighbor.
“They provide insurance for us,” Sweeney said. “That’s an important issue. We couldn’t ask people to come to sell things, or ask people to come to visit, if we didn’t have that umbrella of liability.”
Country Neighbor will also be responsible for all of the market’s accounting.
“It takes the pressure off us,” Allin said. “They handle all the money, so there is not going to be any question about donations. You can donate to the farmers’ market, but in the memo of your check or when you send it in, make sure that you say that that money is designated to the Andover Community Farmers Market, because otherwise it just goes to Country Neighbor.”
Klingensmith is pleased to bring the Andover Community Farmers Market under the Country Neighbor umbrella.
“We did (a farmers’ market in) Orwell last year, and then Andover approached me this year and said, ‘Hey, how about you work with us,’” Klingensmith said. “I’m excited to see it. It gives the local farmers a place to have a venue where they can sell their fruits and vegetables, just like here in Orwell. Orwell is in its second year, and now Andover is going to be in its first year. It’ll be interesting to see how it all goes, especially with how busy everything is in Andover.”
