Farmers’ Market opens for 9th season in Medina on Saturday

Provided photos: At left are some of prizes for the Kid’s Scavenger Hunt. (Right) Live music will also return to the summer market, sponsored by Medina Lumber and Hardware. Performing here is local favorite Steve Novak.

MEDINA – A sure sign of summer is opening of the Canal Village Farmers’ Market in its original location at West Center Street and West Avenue.

The market will reopen there on Saturday, celebrating its ninth season in Medina, with many of the old favorite vendors and some new ones, as well.

“Our winter market had a great season in the former NAPA building, but we are definitely looking forward to opening day of the summer season,” said Chris Busch, president of Orleans Renaissance Group, which sponsors the market. “The Saturday morning gathering of vendors, musicians, food trucks and friends is a welcome sign of summer.”

While the market operates under the auspices of ORG, a local 501©3 arts and culture organization, many aspects of the market are dependent on generous local sponsorships. Once again, overall summer market operations will be underwritten by Takeform, a well-known, local architectural graphics company in Medina.

“For the past two years, we’ve been immensely fortunate to have our general market operations funded by a generous donation by Takeform,” Busch said. “Bill Hungerford, president of Takeform, has been unhesitatingly generous and supportive of what we do here every summer. We can’t thank him enough for his considerate assistance in keeping Medina’s community farmer’s market a viable, on-going asset to our village.”

Gail Miller has been manager of the market since it opened.

“All of us are looking forward to a great summer season for the Canal Village Farmers’ Market,” Miller said. “We’ll have a lot packed into the Saturday market – regular and rotating vendors, food trucks, kids’ scavenger hunts, crafters and more. We’re also hoping to do some food demos, too. As always, weekly updates will be posted on our Facebook page.”

Returning anchor vendors include Baker Farms, Bower Family Farms, Human Farms, Heartland Organics, LockRidge Apiary, Gardner’s Gardens and Dot’s Pantry (every other week).

Regular featured products are local beef, pork, chicken, garlic, garlic powder, eggs, mushrooms, cheese, numerous fruit and vegetable options, cut flowers, jams, fudge, barbecue sauce, herb blends, honey and many other seasonal items.

Making a return with wine, mead and spirits will be 810 Meadworks, the popular Black Button Distilling and other wineries, to be announced.

A great lineup of food trucks will be at the market this season, Miller said.

“There’s a nice variety for all tastes this year,” she said. “Food trucks will rotate in and out throughout the season. In addition to the weekly anchor El Gran Burrito, the market will welcome two additional regular food trucks.”

Miller said they are incredibly excited to welcome pitmaster Scott Gypson of Gasport with his TN Smoke House and NOLA Confections, who will be selling New Orleans style snow cones.

“A native of Middleport, Scott Gypson spent a number of years living in Tennessee, where he learned and mastered the art of smoking meat,” Miller said. “He uses nothing but the highest quality meats and we are super psyched to have his BBQ with us. His business was recently featured in a Hub article.”

TN Smoke House will be at the market on opening day and will appear numerous times throughout the season.

Organic mushrooms from Heartland Organics are works of art and nutritious to eat, along with farm-fresh produce from Human Farms and Greenhouse. They are among the vendors at Medina’s Canal Village Farmers’ Market.

NOLA Confections’ snow cones are a sweet made with a mound of fluffy shaved ice flavored with sweet syrups and topped or stuffed with a number of mix-ins or add-ons. They will be at the market every Saturday with the same schedule as El Gran Burrito.

Other food trucks scheduled to visit throughout the season are Dubby’s Wood Fired Pizza from Albion and Greenlief’s on the Go from Middleport.

Artisans and crafters appearing at the market include Katlyn Koch Crochet, Lucky Violet Color Co., Laurels by the Creek and others still in the planning.

“We’ve been contacted by quite a few artisans and crafters, and some spots are still available,” Miller said. “There will be more to announce soon.”

Live music will again be featured at the market this summer, sponsored by Medina Lumber and Hardware.

“We are thrilled for the music sponsorship from Medina Lumber and Hardware,” Miller said. “The summer market just wouldn’t be complete without it. It’s become a tradition. We are so grateful owner Tom Snyder has stepped up with a generous sponsorship to feature and support local musicians at the market. It really creates a festive atmosphere and our patrons thoroughly enjoy it.”

The ever-popular kids’ scavenger hunt will also return to the summer market. According to Miller, this is a “must do” activity for many kids, and they play every week.

Kids play by answering five market-related scavenger hunt questions to win a prize from a huge box of cool kids’ stuff.

“It’s great fun, and we have as much fun watching the kids enjoy themselves as they do playing,” Miller said.

The scavenger hunt has again been sponsored by Maureen Hungerford.

“We owe a huge debt of gratitude to Mrs. Hungerford for her sponsorship,” Miller said. “The scavenger hunt is such a popular attraction and kids absolutely adore the big prize box, which, thanks to Mrs. Hungerford, is always stocked with cool kid stuff.”

Another popular feature is the Community Tent.

“The tent is for community organizations, such as tourism, veterans’ organizations, health and wellness organizations, Master Gardeners, charitable organizations and the like,” Miller said. “It gives these agencies a helpful outlet to share information about services, etc.”

 Some appearances to watch for at the tent include the New York State Division of Veteran Services distributing Fresh Connect Checks to veterans on June 8. The Orleans County Veterans’ Association will be at the tent several weeks later to distribute them to veterans who could not make it on the 8th.

“Any community-oriented organizations who feel they might be appropriate for the market should contact us,” Miller said. “It’s a great opportunity to meet and greet the public.”

Miller said products available each Saturday are listed every week on the market’s Facebook page – Canal Village Farmers Market. Customers are encouraged to follow the page for up-to-date information.

The market will again have multiple options for making sales transactions.

“While most market transactions use cash, most all of our vendors now offer additional forms of payment, such as Square, PayPal and Venmo,” Miller said. “Payment options at the market have never been more convenient.”

The market also accepts Senior Coupons, WIC, SNAP and Fresh Connect Checks, and will soon be able to offer Double Up Food Bucks to SNAP recipients. More information will be available at the market manager’s tent.

“For SNAP/EBT users, each transaction makes the user eligible to receive the same amount spent in Fresh Connect Checks,” Miller said. “For example, a $20 SNAP purchase of market tokens means the user will receive $20 in Fresh Connect Checks, effectively doubling their purchase power.”

The market is open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Saturday. Market manager Gail Miller can be reached at canalvillagemarket@gmail.com or via Facebook Messenger.