With summer just around the corner, the administrators of the local farmer’s market met to reflect on a successful past season, and to ready themselves for the summer market, which will open on May 18th.
On Thursday, April 7th, the members of The Huntingdon County Farmers Market met at Huntingdon’s Alfred-Langevin Cultural and Community Hall to hold the organization’s Annual General meeting. Led by president Laurie-Ann Prevost, the meet provided an opportunity for members to prepare for the upcoming summer season, and to review the previous year.
Results showed that the summer of 2015 was more successful than previous years—with not only more vendors participating, but with more townspeople opting to shop locally. “We think the change of day (from Saturday morning to Wednesday afternoon) played a big part in the increase in popularity. The customers liked it and so did the producers,” said Prevost about the uptick in numbers.
This year will also see the introduction of new coordinator Ian Ward, of Jardins Glenelm, who took over from long-time coordinator and former president Sylvain Gascon. The Elgin market gardener has been very involved in the local farmer’s market since last summer.
Prevost hinted that the market administrators are hard at work developing a new strategy for the Huntingdon County Farmers Market—one that will include a new logo and signage, alongside a revamped website, not to mention a few other surprises that locals will have to stay tuned for. “The goal is to promote the “buy local” ideology, build stronger relationships between producers and customers and attract more vendors to offer a more diverse selection to the local population so they can come to the market and discover everything the Haut-Saint-Laurent has to offer,” explained Prevost. On an additional note, producers and vendors are encouraged to sign up for the summer season before April 13th to benefit from the 20% discount offered on the rental of spaces.
Upcoming Markets
On Sunday, April 17th, the Huntingdon Farmer’s Market will host its final market of the winter season at the Rec Centre in Ormstown. Following tradition, the Huntingdon Farmer’s Market will dive into its summer season on Wednesday, May 18th, hosting its weekly event at Parc Prince Arthur on Dalhousie Street in Huntingdon. The market will be open to the public from 3-7 P.M. with the exception of the last five markets of the summer, when opening hours will adjust to 2- 6 P.M., due to the earlier sunset. As Prevost put it, “Nobody wants to buy cucumbers with a flashlight.”
