As residents continue to ask if a farmers market is coming to Eudora, local officials said there aren’t set plans for one yet this spring.
It is a project the city is interested in pursuing, but it is unknown whether it will be a city or Convention and Visitors Bureau project, Assistant City Manager Zack Daniel said.
Daniel said he plans to have more conversations with the visitors bureau and other stakeholders about the idea.
In November 2020, members of the Nottingham redevelopment team presented city commissioners with the possible overall concept of what the Nottingham Center would look like and what types of businesses and activities would go into it.
Features included a public village green for outdoor activities and entertainment, such as music, food trucks and farmers markets. At the time, Mayor Tim Reazin said having a space for food trucks and a farmers market would be a great asset to Nottingham.
When the city finished the first phase of the Village Green project last September, discussions again outlined future potential for a farmers market or other activities in the area. Formerly, Eudora had its own farmers market for many years.
Convention and Visitors Bureau President Jason Musick said the farmers market has always been something discussed for event growth in Eudora, but the biggest takeaway from running other events is there needs to be an employee to handle it.
With a lot of regulations for farmers markets, a staff person is necessary, Musick said.
The Convention and Visitors Bureau has to figure out where the support for a market would come from, especially to make sure it’s done right, he said.
“We want to make sure that if someone’s coming in and purchasing tomatoes, it’s from somebody’s garden and they didn’t go down to a restaurant supply place and buy three or four cases of tomatoes,” Musick said.
It’s a challenging project with organizational and infrastructure needs, he said. It’s also important that if the market is started, that it is sustainable, and has ample volunteers that don’t get burned out from the large amount of work, especially since many of their volunteers are working on the Main Street Market, he said.
Musick said there would be continued conversations about partnerships with the city, but the bureau does not have the funding for an employee right now. The possibility of hiring a seasonal intern for the bureau might help with these things, he said.
Gina Montalbano Zesiger, owner of Z&M Twisted Vines Winery and Vineyard, knows how much work it takes for small business vendors to attend markets and for them to run successfully. Z&M travels to Lawrence for its weekly farmers markets, as well as to Baldwin’s monthly market and Eudora’s Main Street Markets.
There has to be a big community draw otherwise vendors can get tired of coming if they’re not selling enough, she said. When small towns host these markets, they need to be able to also draw from neighboring communities, an important thing to consider when making plans, she said.
Zesiger had the idea to make an indoor market for area small towns so vendors could sell year-round and easily set up their booths, but was not able to get grant funding for the project. Zesiger said she is willing to help brainstorm more ideas for Eudora, and knows the markets can be important to small towns.
“It becomes a whole job, but if there’s only a couple people strolling by and you don’t make any sales, you know, time, time is money, if that makes sense,” she said.
Jamie Knabe, Country Road Farms owner and bureau board member, used to be a market manager for Eudora’s old traditional weekly market. Several years ago, vendors met in the parking lot of Gene’s to sell their items, but eventually there weren’t enough vendors to keep it going. Knabe knows the markets take substantial time and planning, and making sure they are done safely and up to state regulations.
Knabe said although she has mixed feelings about the market for similar reasons to Musick, any time a community can get fresh, local food is always a win.
With a lot of the bureau’s board members already involved with the organizing of the Main Street Market, Knabe agreed the market needs an employee to serve as the organizer.
She put in a lot of time to organize the city’s small market, so she knows how much preparation this project would take. Knabe feels the market could be good for the city, if rules are followed and funding pans out.
Reach reporter Sara Maloney at [email protected]
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