Archive: Around Town

Last year a Lansing Farmers Market was started with modest goals: the expectation was that there would be five vendors on opening day.  It turned out to be a popular success, an instant component of the community, with 18 vendors that first day, and as many as 32 on the busiest Saturdays of the season.  Tomorrow (Saturday, June 5th) the second season begins in the parking lot in front of the Lansing Town Hall.  Lansing Deputy Supervisor Connie Wilcox says she expects at least ten vendors to start with, and more with last minute sign-ups.

“I am excited to have it back again this year,” she says.  “We're starting earlier than we did last year.  There probably won't be a huge amount of produce to start with. Keith Thompson will have some of his hydroponic produce, and there will be some organic beef, and  crafts.  It's going to continue to grow every year.”


There had been talk of a farmers market for years before Wilcox assembled a committee last Spring.  The committee includes Wilcox, Charmagne Rumgay, Lynn Day, Keith and Sarah Thomson, Dan Konowalo, and Linda VanApeldoorn.  In its first year vendors could set up a booth for free, to get local farmers and craftspeople interested in participating.  This year a $20 fee has been instituted, but that gives vendors access for the entire season, which comes to less than a dollar a week for vendors who come every week.

“The reason we did that was to make people feel committed,” Wilcox explains.  “We have some advertising that we do and things like that.  We thought it would help defray some of the costs.  The Town picked up the tab last year and will continue to do what it can to get this going, but we would really like it to be self-sustaining.”

Wilcox says she likes the idea of a Town Green that has been proposed in the Town Center Committee.  The existing parking lot between the Town Hall and Lansing Community Library would be reconfigured to allow for a long grassy space with walkways that could connect to existing and future trails.  Part of that idea is to build a structure that would house the farmers market on an ongoing basis.  That would certainly put the farmers market on a permanent footing as a community building event, alongside Harbor Festival, the East Shore Festival of the Arts (ESFOTA), the Lions Club 4th of July Barbecue, and Concerts in the Park.

"That's a future vision," Wilcox says.  "I'd love to see a pavilion with at least a roof and a floor in it that we could have for the vendors.  There were a couple of ideas in the Town Center Committee, but at this point in time we don't really know where we want to put it.  There is the possibility of building something that we could move later on, so we're looking into that.  The library is there, the Town Hall is there, the Community Center is there.  You've got the historical records building and the old school house.  I think that's an appropriate place for it."

The market also attracted some non-commerce booths.  Last year the Lansing Community Council regularly had a booth to promote Lansing Harbor Festival, and Wilcox set up a table where people could meet and talk to town councilmen and women.  She says that was her favorite part, because it gave her a chance to interact with the people she represents.

“Last year I had some pretty interesting conversations with new people who had moved to town, and people who have lived in the town for years,” she says.  “I like that part.  People can come a couple of times a month and talk to us.  That's my favorite part, because I like people.  That's the best part of it.  And of course I buy lots of stuff, too!”

The Lansing Farmers Market runs Saturday mornings throughout the summer and into next Fall.  In addition to Lansing Trails exhibit, the Town Hall and Library will be open so that those who haven’t seen the ESFOTA art exhibition can view it (it will remain open for the next two weeks).

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