More than halfway through its annual season, the
Lansdale Farmers Market is headed "home.”
While most of us have been sheltering in place this year in the wake of the pandemic, the Market had been denied its home of the last few years, in the parking lot of
Penndale Middle School off Church Road in the borough.
With school district facilities shuttered, the district also declared its grounds to be off-limits. The Market took up residence instead at the borough’s Ninth Street utility facility, sharing the space with Lansdale Electric among other essential services.
But now, starting Saturday, Aug. 29, the Lansdale Farmers Market packs up midseason and shifts back to Penndale, a location it considers more accessible with better parking facilities. It will remain there through the season’s scheduled end on Saturday, Nov. 21.
"A return to the Penndale site will bring a sense of comfort and nostalgia,” says Market board member Mallory Petersen. "We appreciate how the other organizations on Ninth Street shared the space with us this year, including Lansdale Electric, North Penn Little League and Meridian Construction, and we honor that cooperation by giving the space back to its original purpose."
Lansdale Farmers Market board secretary Carol Bailey Zellers offers gratitude to
Pa. Rep. Steve Malagari (D-53rd), "who advocated on our behalf to North Penn School District leadership,” she said. "It was extremely helpful that Gov. Wolf had made an official declaration that farmers’ markets were essential, life-sustaining businesses that were permitted to be open during all phases of the pandemic. The School District agreed, and here we are.”
It’s no small logistical feat to pack up and move in the middle of vendors’ seasons, nor in the midst of a pandemic. "It takes yeoman effort to move from one season to the next. Doing it mid-season is a significant challenge,” said Zellers. "It's like preparing to open for a new season, which generally consumes several months but is now compressed into several weeks.”
But with the support of the Market board, comprising several vendors and non-vendor local volunteers, as well as the backing of several Lansdale Borough departments, Zellers said, "We are right on target for the August 29th, 9 a.m. opening.”
The board had to redesign the Market’s site layout to accommodate continuing COVID-19 precautions, schedule additional volunteers, coordinate the movement of equipment, update clearances with the county health department, and arrange for publicity and promotion, among other details. "The vendors are amazed at how similar the configurations of the two sites actually are,” said Zellers.
From the beginning, vendors were "happy to have been able to open and have made the necessary adjustments, including
the introduction of market preorders, a pre-pay, grab-and-go system. This system provides a sense of safety, security and convenience for customers who prefer not to linger or wait in line and for those who want to guarantee their favorite items will be available.”
Overall, said Zellers, "Our customers continue to express gratitude for how safe they feel at the market and how much they appreciate the steps we have taken to achieve that. Customer and vendor safety remains our primary concern.”
Added Zellers, "Everyone is happy to be going ‘home.’”
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