Community is always in season
Welland’s “real community centre” doesn’t have a court for basketball or pickleball, nor does it charge membership dues.
When chess is played, the pieces, a little smaller than a fire hydrant, are moved over a grid marked on pavement, not across a board.
Welcome to Welland Farmers’ Market, the place to be Saturday mornings to renew acquaintances, receive an injection of community spirit and share what’s on your mind with elected officials.
If you’re hungry for breakfast or planning a menu for the upcoming week, it’s also the place to be for meat that was recently butchered as well as fruits and vegetables fresh from the farm down the road, not from the back of a transport truck after a long trip that started who knows when.
You get a sense of community. It just feels better to eat food that’s produced locally. We try to eat local whenever we can.”
Meaghan McCombs
Meaghan Tayti, 30, showcased her singing skills at the weekly hour-long Jammin’ at the Market show, but she said the quality of the food would have brought her out regardless.
“The food is different,” she said. “It’s nice to interact with the people who grow your food.
“It’s nice to put a face to the tomato you’re eating.”
Going to the market was a family ritual for the Welland native. She recalled spending many Saturday mornings shopping at the market after going to garage sales with her parents.
Meaghan and Jeremy McCombs, her husband of two years, are continuing that tradition.
“You get a sense of community,” she said. “It just feels better to eat food that’s produced locally.
“We try to eat local whenever we can.”
The freshness of the produce, and the fellowship of friends, is what keeps Lillie Desjardins, a market regular for the past 10 to 12 years, coming back week after week.
“I can’t remember the last market I missed, but when I do I hear about it the next week,” the Welland native said with a laugh.
Desjardins said the “friendly atmosphere” is conducive to keeping people connected with their elected representatives on a personal level.
“You get to meet with the mayor, you get to see your regional councillor,” she said. “This is what community is all about.”
The freshness of the food is the No. 1 priority for Desjardins. She recalled buying vegetables at the market that have lasted as long as two weeks, much longer than produce purchased at a supermarket.
“You don’t know how long they’ve been sitting there,” Desjardins said.
“Or how long they were on the truck before that,” said family friend Jim Dolan, who was sitting with wife Mary and Desjardins at a table inside the baked goods and craft building at the market.
A chance to enjoy the “community atmosphere” is a big part of market day for the Dolans, both of whom are longtime market regulars.
“It’s very important to talk to people, to keep in touch,” Mary Dolan said.
“This is Welland’s real community centre, and you don’t have to pay a membership,” her husband said with a hearty laugh.
The bond with the Saturday morning institution in the cityrun facility is just as strong among vendors.
“Once you get loyal customers, why go anywhere else,” said Megan Ketchum, whose boyfriend Jason Matiuschuk’s family has been coming to the market from their farm in Niagara-on-the-Lake for decades.
Matiuschuk’s first memories of the market go back to when he was six, but his family’s involvement dates back further than that. He recalled hearing from his father David that livestock was taken to the market for a sale 40 to 50 years ago.
“That was before we be came a fruit-only farm,” he said. “Welland market has been a very good market for us.”
Marc McKerracher, who along with wife Ruth Gatzke operate Rumar Farm, a six-hectare operation in Ridgeville specializing in organic produce, ranked the Saturday morning market in Welland and Thursday’s day-long market in Grimsby as the best markets in the region.
“It’s real farmers selling real food that they grow,” he said.
The couple took over the farm four years ago, but the Gatke name had been synonymous with Welland Farmers’ Market since 1966.
“We’ve been married 30 years, so I’ve been coming here at least that long. This is a great market,” McKerracher said.