LWMC Farmers Market opens May 22 in Legion Park

The Live Well Montgomery County Farmers Market will be kicking off the market season this Friday, May 22 and in a new location.
The market, while under the blanket of Live Well Montgomery County, is actually coordinated by a vendor committee, coordinated by Jan Castle Renander. Other key members inclue Kristy Petry, who organizes the events food trucks, Alicia Johnson, who organizes entertainment, and Nanny Crowe, who is organizing the event’s sponsors.
This is the second year of the market being under the Live Well Montgomery County banner. Renander said last year’s event ran fairly smoothly, aside from a few hang-ups.
“Last year things went reasonably well. Change is always a little difficult, just because it’s change. Last year, as some people know, we swapped back and forth between Red Oak and Stanton each Friday, and that got a bit confusing. We feel consistency is important, so this year, we will be in Red Oak every Friday, from 4 to 6 p.m. beginning this Memorial Day weekend through the end of September. I think that consistency goes right along with the change we’re working on this year: increasing the visibility,” Renander explained.
Renander said the new location for the market will be on the south side of Legion Park, across from the Red Oak Fire Station.
“On the left hand side of the Legion Park access road, there will be a welcome booth with information about other programs. As we are part of Live Well Montgomery County, the booth will share information on other food programs they’re doing. Also, during the market, the park access road between the YMCA and the park will be blocked off during market. We felt we needed to do that as a safety feature, that way people can walk and wander as they choose without any fear of traffic. And there’s plenty of parking at the YMCA and at the fairgrounds so we felt it was better to keep that access road closed,” Renander said.
On the right side of the access road, where it outlets at the fire station, Renander said they’ll have food trucks available for market visitors.
“Right now, we have food trucks scheduled for most weeks. By keeping them on the other side of the park access road, they have lots of room and plenty of parking. People can grab food and sit at one of the park picnic tables to eat. While most food truck vendors usually have their own generators, if a vendor wishes to participate and does not have a generator, we have just received word that there will be electricity available for them to use,” commented Renander.
While leaving Fountain Square Park means leaving the stage, Renander said they’re still going to have live entertainment available.
“Entertainment on the evenings when we have it will be set up in the grassy area in the park by the shelter house.  Having that entertainment is another reason we had for shutting the access road off from traffic, if people want to set up a lawn chair in the area of that road, they can, safely,” advised Renander.
The decision to move the event from its usual location in Fountain Square Park was not an easy one, but it was felt to be a necessary one by the members of the vendor committee.
“Legion Park is just so much more visible. We like the idea of more space, the ability to have more food trucks, the ability to do more. The idea to move came through a brainstorming session of vendors of what we wanted to do with it. We all felt like the traffic at Fountain Square Park is not what it used to be years ago, and felt we needed more visibility,” stated Renander. “Obviously, as a vendor, you want more customers, clients, and people coming in. Right here near Broadway, I don’t know where we can be more visible. Additionally, moving the market here to the park also allows us to have dedicated bathrooms for people to use. Thankfully, when we approached the Red Oak Park and Tree Board with a request to move to the park, they graciously allowed us to.”
Last year, the event also transitioned to a Friday market, and Renander said that schedule will continue.
“We moved the market to Fridays because there are so many other markets operating on a Thursday. It became a competition for vendors. A vendor can only be at one market. You can’t be at Shenandoah, Red Oak, Bedford, or wherever all on the same day. We needed a day that didn’t have a lot of other markets going on, and Friday seemed to be the best option,” said Renander.
Renander added that for those who wish to be a vendor at the markets, there are not many limitations.
“Really the only thing they need to do to fit in with our market is their product needs to be homegrown or homemade. If you have produce, it’s produce that’s been grown in your garden. I’m a baker, so everything I bring is stuff I baked in my own kitchen,” Renander stated. “We have some crafters who are coming in and they are bringing in items that they made. That’s the hallmark of our market: everything is homegrown and homemade. If you come for a Tupperware dealer, you’re not going to find one, or a Scentsy dealer or any of those franchise operations. You’re going to find items that were crafted and created, baked, grown or picked by local people.”
So far, the market has 14 confirmed vendors, which is up from last year, and a good mix of vendors including those with baked goods, produce vendors, bakers, crafters, and plant-sellers.  Becoming a vendor, Renander said, is easy.
“If you want to be a vendor, our application is online through the Montgomery County Memorial Hospital website at https://www.mcmh.org/about/get-involved/live-well-montgomery-county/farm.... The cost to participate is $10 per market, if you want to drop in, or $50 to have a place at the market for the full season.  I encourage people to do the full season market because if you’re going to come five times, you’re going to pay the $50 anyway. By paying for the season, you guarantee yourself a spot to attend as many times as you are able,” Renander commented. “The application will ask you information about what you will be selling just so we have a general idea of what we’ve got. Right now we are not limiting or restricting anybody. We’re kind of going with the ‘more is better philosophy.’ It seems to have worked well, as we haven’t had an overabundance of a particular type of vendor.”
This year’s market will also be participating in the Farmer’s Market Nutrition program.  
 “The program provides specific vouchers that come through some of the other social services. Those are accepted on a vendor-by-vendor basis. As a vendor, you can decide to accept them, or you can decide not to. As a market, we don’t control that. I do know some of our vendors in the past have accepted the vouchers. It’s also worth mentioning that they are good only for fresh fruit and vegetables. They are not good for baked goods or any type of craft.”
In addition to the Farmers Market Nutrition program, Renander is hopeful that they will be able to serve SNAP recipients as well.
“We have applied for the ability to accept SNAP benefits, which would allow people to purchase anything at our market that they could purchase at a grocery store. I do not have confirmation on that yet. I am hopeful, but it’s an application through a governmental entity. They will get to it when they get to it probably. If people come ready to spend with their SNAP card and we don’t have confirmation from the USDA yet, we will be unable to accept SNAP as payment until we have the approval and authorization,” Renander advised.
While some of the vendors take credit card payments, Renander said if you’re coming to the market for the first time, it’s a good idea to bring cash for your purchases, and then you cen determine if your favorite vendors will accept credit card payments in the future.
Renander also said to mark this first market at its new location, they are going to be offering a special item to attendees: reusable bags.
“This is a new thing which we’re quite excited about. We have, through our partnership with Live Well Montgomery County, ordered a number of reusable grocery sacks that will be distributed one to a person or one to a family on the opening night of our market,” explained Renander. “We want to encourage people to bring their bag back each week, and fill it up with goodies at the market. Not only are these bags more eco-friendly than plastic bags, they’re also bigger. They hold more so you can buy more. You can shop at more of our vendors this way.”
According to Renander, being able to unveil the market at Legion Park is the thing she’s most excited about as the market season kicks off this Friday.
“I’m very excited we’ve got the green light to host the market in this new location and I’m excited about the number of food trucks that we have lined up. Kristy Petry has headed that up and she has done a fantastic job of lining up food trucks and there’s going to be plenty of entertainment on market nights as well. I’m excited for the things we have planned and to see them come to fruition,” commented Renander.
Information about the market can be found by following the market’s Facebook page at facebook.com/LWMCFarmersMarket.
“We encourage everyone check in with that each week. We will be posting our list of vendors who have confirmed for each Friday. We also have vendor spotlights in the lead-up to our first market of the season. By Wednesday or Thursday, you can check our Facebook page, see who’s going to be at that Friday’s market and the food trucks and the entertainment planned as well,” said Renander.
Renander encouraged everyone who is able to come out and see what the Live Well Montgomery County Farmers Market has to offer.
“We have a great group of people who have really taken the reins. I am not the market manager, I’m merely coordinating what the committee does. We have different people assigned or volunteering to do different things and that’s enabled us to do a lot more. That’s why we’ve got food trucks lined up, and the entertainment, and the reusable bags. It’s because people have jumped up and said ‘yeah I can do that,’ and they’ve made it happen. Legion Park also has a playground right behind the vendors, so bring the kids and let them play while you shop the market and then go over to the food truck and grab your supper.”