FREDERICKTOWN — Now in its third year, the Fredericktown Farmers Market will be in a new venue. The first market of the season will be held Friday in the old high school building in Fredericktown.
Jennifer Smith, one of the market’s coordinators, explained who is eligible to participate.
“It just needs to be locally grown,” she said. “That means within a 50-mile radius of the Fredericktown area. We are looking for the actual growers, or prople who are directly associated with the growing or baking of the products.”
Vendors are expected to abide by Ohio Department of Agriculture rules and regulations.
“They have to abide by the state regulations,” Smith said. “We know that the health department can come by at any time to inspect things. We keep an eye on what people bring in, though.”
Smith said the only other criteria is a small registration fee.
“We’re such a small organizatin and if people want to try it out for a week to see what happens, that’s fine,” Smith said. “But if they want to do the whole summer, we are asking a small fee. This is just to help us cover some of our expenses, such as advertising.”
Smith thinks moving the market to the old high school building will be a good thing for the vendors and the public.
“We think it will be more condusive to pedestrian traffic,” she said. “And it will let people be able to park easily. While it’s nice to do business in the heart of Fredericktown, this will be nice for everybody.
“We felt the high school parking lot would be good for people who wanted to bring in trailers filled with produce,” she explained. “Especially during the fall when people will have larger trucks. And we have the sidewalks there. There are a lot of people who walk in Fredericktown. I think this is going to be a very big year for us. People are more interested in buying locally because of the freshness and high quality of the product. It’s a great way to go shopping.”
The Fredericktown Farmers Market begins Friday at the old high school building. Set-up time is 2:30 p.m., with sales running from 3 to 6 p.m.
