Farm market grows a crowd

The first-day turnout got a better start than organizers had hoped.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
YOUNGSTOWN -- "I think it's wonderful. We should have more of these," said Doris Harris of Liberty as she walked away from the Northside Farmers Market with peaches and blueberries she bought for an ill friend.
Harris was one of the first to visit what organizers of the market hope will become a community affair.
The market, set up on the lawn of First Unitarian Church on Elm Street, had its first session Saturday and will run from 9 a.m. to noon for the next three Saturdays.
Organizers had hoped to draw between 50 and 200 people; the first day's numbers were easily expected to exceed that.
More than 100 people had walked through in the first hour, and Karen O'Malia, chairwoman of the organizing committee, said she expected the total to reach about 500.
Neighborhood revitalization
This farmers market is about more than just providing fresh produce in a municipal setting.
It's about creating a sense of community in an effort to revitalize the North Side's Wick Park area, O'Malia said.
The idea for a market evolved from First Unitarian's Universal Cafe program, at which a city planner recently spoke about the importance of bringing people into the neighborhood to spur revitalization, she said.
People from First Unitarian and Rodef Sholom Temple started planning the market and soon involved people from nearby Richard Brown Memorial United Methodist Church, she said.
The plan was to find a "goal-directed, time-limited" project that would attract people, she said.
Additional wares
It went beyond just a farmers market.
There was a food wagon provided by Saide's Famous Mediterranean Foods of New Castle, tables offering a variety of yard-sale and flea-market items, and a craft table for children.
Evan Geistfeld, 9, of Boardman spent most of his time there as his mother, Karis, and father, Phil, made the rounds of the other tables.
Evan quickly made a picture of himself driving a car and a magnetic paper heart bearing the inscription, "Mom and Dad are the best parents."
He came back a short time later to make a bead necklace for his older sister, Emily, 14, who wasn't on the family outing.
"I'm always happy to get the downtown revitalized," Karis Geistfeld said, noting that big cities have things like this in their downtown areas.
"I like the whole idea," her husband said. "It's nice to have a good reason to come downtown. I think it's a great idea. I hope it works."
Regional perspective
Jim Converse, one of the organizers, said getting a regional approach to the market is one of the goals.
It seemed to work, as many of those at opening day don't live in the city.
"I like to support local markets," said Susan Callen-Miracle of Liberty, who was carrying some peaches and Lebanese food and looking for tomatoes.
Callen-Miracle said she heard about the event through an e-mail message.
It's good to buy locally this time of year, she said, adding that she definitely would come back.
Harris said she usually has to go to Canfield to get produce.
Supply and demand
One problem with opening day was a limited supply of produce.
The Good Food Co-Op set up a table, and Converse said four farmers had said they would set up booths but hadn't arrived as of 10:30 a.m.
He and other volunteers had a contingency plan -- they had secured some local produce beforehand and set up a community table to sell it.
Some of the group went off to get more when it became apparent the farmers weren't coming and came back with sweet corn, peppers and tomatoes to sell.
Another group of volunteers stands ready to go out to those farms and get the produce next week, if necessary.
"We need to convince the farmers that this is worthwhile," Converse said.
The ultimate goal is to move the market into Wick Park, with city cooperation, to make better use of the park, he said.
gwin@vindy.com