Albion will start downtown farmers’ market

Photo by Tom Rivers – East Bank Street in Albion will be closed off on Sundays this summer for a farmers’ market from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

ALBION – The village will close off East Bank Street between Main and Platt on Sundays for a new farmers’ market that will run the third week of June until October.

“The idea is to bring people downtown and to promote the community,” said Ron Vendetti, the village code enforcement officer who will serve as the volunteer market manager.

The market would be open from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Vendetti said a church and Phoenix Fitness are the only sites open on the street during that time.

He doesn’t see the new farmers’ market as a competitor with the one on Route 31 at the Save-A-Lot parking lot on Saturdays. He would like to model the downtown market after the one in Brockport.

However, he doesn’t want to charge the $250 vendor’s fee that Brockport bills farmers. Vendetti would like to have a much-lower fee to encourage participation from vendors.

He will send out letters soon to farmers to encourage them to sell produce from the downtown location that will be barricaded off for five hours on Sundays. The entire block may not be closed off, depending on how many vendors join the market.