Arlington Farmers Market
Different-colored pop-up tents stood closely next to each other on the patchy yellow-green grass that sits beside the Vassar College tennis courts. It is an event that takes place every Thursday: Arlington’s Farmers Market.
The weekly event started back in June and will continue until the end of October with the same time of 2-6 p.m every Thursday.
“Our market chose Thursdays when it started in 1999 because there were markets every day in the area and also because Thursday is a good shopping day for the weekend,” said Arlington Business Improvement District Robert Legacy.
On this sunny, 64-degree September day, several businesses, local and start-up, from across the Hudson Valley were selling their goods. Gary’s Pickles with different kinds of pickles, Reconnect Foods with their Mexican-Asian food, New Confectioner with their vegan free ice cream and sorbets, and farms like Wilklow and Obercreek with pumpkins, apples, squash, and other vegetables.
Many of these vendors have been coming to this event for years, including Meredith Bread’s Rodrigo Morales, who has been making the 40 minute drive from Kingston every Thursday for the last five years and is the farthest business that comes to Arlington.
“The best part about this is being in the outdoors and meeting people,” said Morales. “The three things that we’ve sold the most over the years are the sugar cookies, pumpkin pie, and biscotti bread.”
Apart from food and drink, there were also vendors who sold clothes, jewelry, decorative rocks, knick knacks for home decor, and even dog toys and leashes.
People from all age ranges come to this event–grandparents, parents, teens, and college students– most with their reusable fabric or cotton bags in hand. Two customers specifically, Sheri and Dominique Mora, come almost every other Thursday. “We always come for the sourdough, the vegetables, and the tacos,” said Sheri Mora. “The location is good too and walking around outside in the sun is also nice.”
However, the Farmers Market on this day was much quieter than usual, in part because it had to be moved from its original location over the summer, 123 Raymond Avenue, because Vassar is currently constructing its new liberal arts building. Since the move, on average, this event has 29 to 35 vendors according to Legacy.
“Moving Farmers Market the last week of July hurt attendance by about 40 percent,” said Legacy. “We lost 12 vendors during August because of the move, and when we were across the street we averaged 45 vendors.”
It’s the first time Legacy has had to deal with this kind of change despite the fact that he has been organizing this specific event since 2012. Yet there is always one recurring problem that he’s dealt with a few times per year for a decade.
“The most challenging part is getting vendors to show up and follow the rules. Every market has to develop rules and regulations which are on the application [form], and many vendors sign but don’t follow. On occasion I have had to suspend vendors,” said Legacy.
On this specific day, a few vendors did not show up until 4 p.m. Also on this day, there were not very many people present compared to other Thursdays. Legacy said that normally the lines are “very long,” especially for Gary’s Pickles and Judson and Wilklow Farms, the three most popular vendors.
Regardless of how many people show up on a given Thursday, the goal remains the same: to help vendors stay in business and help members of the community, mainly low-income residents, to be able to shop and buy fresh produce and other goods.
