Amenia farmers market planned for May

AMENIA — Traveling Route 22 on Friday afternoons this summer, one might catch a glimpse of a new attraction in the parking lot of the Amenia Elementary School building. Resident and farmer Rudy Eschbach is busy getting all the pieces in place for an Amenia Farmers Market, set to open in the next few months.

The Amenia Town Board has yet to officially purchase the school building from the Webutuck Central School District (offered for the tidy sum of $1), but the town is finishing up the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) process, reported Councilwoman Victoria Perotti. Both she and town Supervisor Wayne Euvrard hope that the building will be owned by the town in time for the opening of the farmers market, tentatively scheduled for May 21.

If for some reason the new Town Hall deal falls through, a back-up location for the farmers market will be the Indian Rock Schoolhouse building, located on the Maplebrook School campus off Mygatt Road. Euvrard also said that even if the town doesn’t own the building by the time that the farmers market is set to open, he felt confident Webutuck would be willing to give the market permission to use the property.

The Cornell Cooperative Extension recognizes 12 farmers markets in Dutchess County, including one in the hamlet of Wassaic that has been open for years. However, Tom Werner, who was present at the first Amenia Farmers Market meeting, held March 3 at Town Hall, explained that the Wassaic Farmers Market, due to increasing complications running the market, will not operate this summer. It is expected that the Wassaic vendors would likely relocate to the Amenia market.

There were only four attendees at the March 3 meeting: Eschbach, Werner, Perotti and farmer Sophie Meili, who with her husband, Craig, operates Meili Farm.

But the Amenia Farmers Market has a northern ally on its side. The North East Community Center (NECC), which oversees the successful Millerton Farmers Market, has been an invaluable asset, Eschbach said, and is providing the kind of assistance that should start Amenia off on the right track for its first year in operation.

NECC Executive Director Jenny Hansell has offered the services of several volunteers from the organization’s teen job program. If there are too many students in the program to utilize everyone during Millerton’s Saturday market, Hansell will be sending teens down to assist the up-and-coming Amenia market, free-of-charge. The teens will be available to help vendors set up and break down stands and serve customers, and will also be spending time on the individual farms.

“It’s really a win-win situation for everyone,� said Eschbach.

Hansell said that she was happy to see Amenia jumping on the farmers market bandwagon and because the markets promote healthy living and local food shopping in general, the more the merrier.

“Already we have more people wanting to join than we have room for,� she said during a phone interview about the Millerton market. “And I’d hate to see a farmer not have a farmers market to be in. So I do think there are enough farmers to go around, and as the public is more educated about the benefits [of eating healthy and locally] there will be enough customers to go around as well.�

There are several farmers markets in the area operating on Saturdays, including ones in Millerton, Millbrook, Kent, Conn., and Great Barrington, Mass. Eschbach explained that the decision to move the market to Friday afternoons would free vendors who usually attend other Saturday markets and often set up stands at multiple sites. Fridays would also eliminate any sense of taking business away from another operation and take advantage of traffic coming up from New York City or the Wassaic Metro-North train station on Friday afternoons. The 2 to 6 p.m. operating hours tap into peak traffic hours, explained Eschbach, who is a bus driver for the Webutuck Central School District.

The Amenia Farmers Market will follow many of the same guidelines as the Millerton market. Food vendors are not required to be certified organic, but those who aren’t need to clearly outline their growing practices to consumers. Priority for vendor space will be given to farmers within a 35-mile radius of Amenia.

All prepared and processed food products for sale should be produced by the vendor from scratch and should include predominantly local ingredients. Craft vendors will be considered on a case-by-case basis and must contain some locally grown or sourced materials.

Even though the wheels are in motion for a late May opening, a few minor details still need to be sorted out. Before the farmers market is made official, the market will need to have a sponsor, Eschbach said. Perotti will be looking into grant opportunities with Mike Hagerty, the town’s grant writer. Eschbach said that the main expenses will likely be the cost of signage and media advertising.

There will probably be a maximum of 15 vendor spaces available. Five vendors have already shown interest in participating, and anyone interested in securing one or more of the remaining spots can contact Eschbach at 845-373-9432 for more information or an application, which can be e-mailed on request.

At least one more meeting will be held before the farmers market opens; that meeting is tentatively scheduled for April 14 at 7 p.m. As the opening date draws nearer, look for more coverage of the Amenia Farmers Market in The Millerton News.