Starting next week, The Innisfil Farmers' Market will be moving to the Stroud Arena.
The announcement was made on Thursday at the market's Community Services Day where dozens of vendors and residents gathered outside the YMCA, along with South Simcoe Police, Innisfil Fire,Simcoe County paramedics, as well as library and town staff.
“Everyone is super excited about the move after a trial run at Onion Fest,” said Market Manger Jaime Grant. “I’ve been trying to move there for a long time, so it’s going to be great.”
Along with the regular market fare of fresh food and handmade goods, this week's market featured a pie eating contest and games.
Matt from Habitat for Humanity took the trophy for the pie eating contest while South Simcoe Police came in first place medals for the team sports with Innisfil Fire and the library making it a tie for second place.
Local businesses pitched in with the prizes.
"Home hardware in Alcona gave us a huge basket of gardening equipment and Andrea Diaz realty donated the first place basket of locally produced items from the market," said Grant. "It was a supporting each other kind of a day."
Grant was pleased to be able to have the various community services of Innisfil come out to support local growers and makers.
“We started organizing this event about three months ago and to get all the different community entities in one place at one time is amazing,” she said. “It’s nice to see the community come out too to support them.”
With local businesses still feeling the impact of COVID, Grant highlighted the importance of markets for bringing the community together to support the local economy.
“It gives the opportunity for people to come together safely and still purchase local,” she explained. “Everybody that attends here is within a 40 kilometre radius of here. Nobody is coming from (a different community) and nothing's being imported from a different province. Everything is truly local. It’s hugely important and everyone is in a good mood. During COVID so many people were in frustrating situations so to see everyone out in a good mood is exciting and positive. It’s a nice summer vibe.”
Having a market right at home in the Innisfil area has been crucial for local businesses.
“It’s very important because it gets you out in the community and meeting the customers in your area,” said Amanda Scott of Innisfil Creek Honey. “We’re excited to be out here because it’s nice and close to home.”
Vendors were in agreement that the market is a perfect way to familiarize with the community and also give residents a reason to get together.
“These get people supporting local businesses and out and social,” said Summer Ford of Simply Sunshine Baking. “This is my first year doing this and it’s super important for getting your name out there.”
“It’s a big deal to have these because it helps the farmers and vendors and it helps people in the area get fresh goods,” added Dave Snowden of JC Kettle Corn. “And it’s really nice to see everyone's face again without the masks and socializing.”
For businesses in the community, these types of markets help to build relationships with the community, which is key to helping them flourish.
“You can connect with the community this way,” said realtor Andrea Diaz. “It’s not just about making transactions, it’s about building those long-term relationships for the future because we’re a small community and need to be supportive of each other, especially after COVID. We need to be there for each other and it’s good for our mental health to interact and be together. All we can do is be supportive, be ourselves, and give back any way we can.”
