Expanded Farm and Craft Market on Saturday the 28th

Farm Market Report for Tuesday May 24, 2016 Keith Helmuth

 

facebookcopyThe Woodstock Farm Market is taking a step designed to make downtown a more lively and interesting place to visit on the last Saturday of each month from now through September.

Starting this coming Saturday at 8 AM, an expanded Farm and Craft Market will be set up in the King Street parking lot immediately in front of the Market Building. There will be new food and craft vendors. The Market Café will be open for breakfast and lunch. Lady J’s Saturday soup and biscuit lunch will also be available.

A special exhibit for the day will be an observation beehive provided by Mike and Cathy Whalen. This will be a good opportunity for both children and adults to see bees at work in their hive.

The Market is currently participating in a “help the bees” campaign by giving away packets of wildflower seeds. The Whalens are commercial beekeepers and will be ready to explain why the conservation and improvement of bee habitat is now so important.

More and more shopping is now being done at the Market on Saturdays, and the requests for vendor space keep coming. The Market now has over 40 inside vendors and close to 20 more are signed up for the expanded Summer Saturday Market. The Board sees great potential for making summer Saturdays in downtown Woodstock a place to visit and shop.

 Like many towns and cities across the Maritimes, Woodstock has seen its downtown business activity change a good deal over the last thirty years. With the coming of big box stores, malls, and fast food outlets on the edges of municipalities, many a downtown has withered.

Although Woodstock has been affected by this kind of change, we are fortunate that its downtown has not suffered nearly the same loss as many other towns. We are also fortunate that the Woodstock Business Improvement Association is taking a strong lead in making the downtown area a more vital and interesting business location.

The current Mayor and Council are also focused on downtown development and are continually at work to help boost downtown activities. For example, the Town has given permission to use part of the King Street parking lot for the expanded Summer Saturday Market.

We are fortunate to have the Market right at the riverfront area with its park ground and walking trails. It’s a great place to visit for relaxation and exercise. And on the last Saturday of each month all summer the expanded Farm and Craft Market will make it even more interesting.