With 19 years of selling local goods and produce, the Haymaker Farmer’s Market in downtown Kent is hardly the new guy on the block but year 19 was a year of transition as Fritz and his wife handed the reigns off to Kelly Ferry as the new Market Director.
So how has it gone? If you listen to the chatter around town, it’s been a great year.
It’s always hard to follow such a success, but by all accounts Kelly has honored the legacy that she was handed while still finding a way to start to make her mark and add her own touches.
In keeping with the growing interest in locally grown food Kelly has done a great job at giving market shoppers a lot of great local options. One of my favorite new market pieces that Kelly added was a partnership with Kent State University to get food to people who need it most.
On October 8, Haymaker Farmers Market had Kent State University Campus Kitchen on site. KSU student volunteers passed out information and accepted donations of either cash or food which was used to purchase produce at the market, and all food was brought back to the kitchen to prepare hot meals for clients of Kent Social Services. That’s what local Farmer’s Markets are all about.
There’s still a couple of more weeks of the market left in the 2011 season so check out the great things going on downtown at the Farmer’s Market.
The musical entertainment in the remaining weeks includes the following:
October 15 Galgozy and Zeleny Duo eclectic folk guitar/vocals duo.
October 22 Noah Gfell and friends.
October 29 Ashley Brooke Toussant folk vocals and instrumental.