Published: June 06, 2009 11:15 pm      

LOCKPORT: Country comes to the city

A group of Middleport-area farmers and producers hope to return some old-time feel

and foot traffic to the Lockport municipal farmers market.

Led by Stacey McAvoy, co-manager of Carmen Road-based Prudom Farms, the group is setting up shop twice a week at the city parking lot next to Molinaro’s Ristorante, Walnut and Pine streets.

By midsummer, McAvoy said, the lot should be bustling with activity as a dozen or more different Niagara and Orleans County-based producers offer up homegrown fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers, honey and maple products, fresh eggs, homemade jams, jellies, baked goods and crafts.

In addition, McAvoy is recruiting producers and crafters for a Saturday afternoon open-air market at Widewaters Restaurant/marina.

Both initiatives will be launched this week. McAvoy’s group will man the municipal market from 1 to 5 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, and the Canalside Farmers Market will be held from 2 to 6 p.m. Saturdays.

These are about the only days and times when the farmers aren’t tied up at auction or working other open-air markets, according to McAvoy. Though they’re solidly booked already, the vendors are always eager to sink their teeth into another ripe market.

“We are so excited to get something going in the city,” she said. “There’s no reason for it to be as small as it became. The want is there. We know it’s an opportunity.”

McAvoy, 25, manages the Middleport Community Farmers Market, a weekly enterprise in the Wilson Farms parking lot on Route 31 that saw its vendor numbers nearly triple since the first market in spring 2007. Upwards of 15 regulars staff it now, and villagers seem eager every spring for the return of their favorites.

“The (Middleport) market is a community event, a gathering place; people come out as much to see who they can catch up with as they do to shop, ” McAvoy said. “I know we can get that spirit going in the city, too.”

One of McAvoy’s goals with the downtown market particularly is to get more fresh produce into the hands of impoverished residents. She helps vendors become qualified to accept food vouchers from three state or federal programs, WIC, SNAPS (formerly known as food stamps) and the Farmers Market Nutrition Program, for low-income parents and senior citizens.

The city administers farmers’ participation in FMNP only, so it’s possible McAvoy’s vendors will provide a public service while growing their small businesses.

“Those programs really helped (the Middleport market) a lot,” grower Larry Childs said.

The municipal farmers market has languished since it was moved in 2005 to make way for Ulrich City Centre construction. Only two or three vendors have been regulars each year, and when they set up toward the back of the parking lot, they’re nearly invisible to passing traffic, McAvoy said.

With the Common Council’s blessing, her vendors will set up closer to the street (which pushes parking behind the market), and the city has tentatively agreed to clean up the parking lot. Hours of operation remain 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily through Nov. 30. Any producer/vendor who obtains a peddlers’ permit from the City Clerk’s office can set up there.

The Canalside Farm Market at Widewaters will have a somewhat different feel than the municipal market, McAvoy said. She’s recruiting some higher-end producers — of goods like goat’s milk soap, all-natural beef and gourmet confections — to complement the crafters and artisans whom Widewaters owners Lou Antonacci and Marty Olivieri wanted to be part of the deal. They’re hoping it all increases attention to the decades-old restaurant that they took over last year.

“We think the area is ideal. We have the space available, and people always want fresh produce,” Olivieri said. “ I love to cook with it (in the restaurant), so we thought we’d wrap it all together.”

McAvoy cautions the markets may start out slow, since there isn’t much fresh produce in season at the moment, but she encourages residents to drop by anyway. A few bunches of radishes, asparagus or chives, some rhubarb, fresh eggs, homemade sweets, maybe even early strawberries, are enough for buyers and sellers to begin bonding over.

“I’m encouraging all of the vendors to get out there, even if they’ve only got one thing for sale right now, just so the community can see their faces and get to know them,” she said. “People decide pretty quickly who their favorite (vendors) are.”

Vegetable and fruit grower Bill Dyet, of Checkered Tavern Road, plans on vending at both the municipal and Canalside markets.

Fresh produce is always a people draw, he said — “it’s not off the shelves and you know where it came from” — and either farm market could really take off, if it’s managed and promoted properly.

“Clarence started out as a little flea market. Look at it now,” Dyet said. “Imagine that in Lockport.”

Contact reporter Joyce Miles at 439-9222, ext. 6245.