One of the founders of the North Bay Farmers’ Market is getting ready to retire as a vendor at the end of the season.
Ron Warman of Alsace Gardens is a former president and board member of the market.
He says after a downtown initiative was wrapping up about 20 years ago a group of vendors got together and set up the market.
“We had no money, we had nothing but we started up anyway,” he says with a chuckle. “We started up small and we grew.”
They grew from a dozen vendors to 18 or 20 on a lot between Main and Oak Streets.
“We outgrew that lot and then we went over to McIntyre St, across from the Library, and grew up to 32 spots there. When we outgrew that we moved to our location on Oak Street now.”
Warman says after the Saturday market got well-established he stepped back from the management side of things.
“Now they have a winter market, a Wednesday market and 100 vendors between all three, it’s been a real success story,” he says. “A lot of it is attributed to good timing too, we’ve got to admit the public loves to shop locally and support the local artisans and the farmers.”
He says the vendors have been successful too.
“People start their business at the farmer’s market and it’s turned into a full-time business, you can’t start anywhere with as low an overhead then you can at a farmer’s market,” he says, citing photographer Liz Lott as an example. “She did cards and photography and she grew that into doing wedding photography and everything else. She eventually left the market because she couldn’t come to a Saturday market because she was doing all these weddings.”
Warman says the market is a fun place that is full of interaction.
“We have buskers and music and all that, it’s a great place to meet your neighbours and have fun walking around and talking to people, asking questions about how things are grown. People are interested in where their food comes from,” he says.
Warman says there are younger people now involved with the board.
“Which is good, they are the future, we need young farmers and younger people than myself that have the energy to take this on,” he says.
The North Bay Farmers’ Market operates, rain or shine, on Saturdays and Wednesdays.
