Trumbull Farmers Market is moving to Twin Brooks Park
TRUMBULL — The town’s annual May through October farmer’s market, previously held in Nichols, will be relocated to Twin Brooks Park, officials said.
Nichols Improvement Association President Bryce Bollert posted the announcement Sunday stating the organization will no longer be responsible for the farmer’s market and that the decision was made to move it to Trumbull.
“The town had expressed interest in starting a farmers market of their own, so there were concerns about having two competing markets in close proximity to one another, and how that might affect our existing vendors and attendees,” Bollert wrote. “The town assured us they had the resources and infrastructure in place, as well as a large volunteer base. After careful consideration by the NIA’s executive board, we decided to partner and transfer the Nichols Farmers Market to the town.”
The post got more than 100 comments from community members showing concern about how the transition would affect the farmers market moving forward.
The move to Twin Brooks Park also drew a large negative reaction from posters.
The park, which is roughly 83 acres, has a swimming area, hiking trails and multi-purpose fields but is in an area prone to flooding, according to officials, concerns raised by residents and former volunteers of the Nichols-based farmers market.
“If the farmers market is going to be at Twin
Brooks, everyone is talking about how there’s a flooding issue,” said PJ Propes, former entertainment coordinator of the farmers market. “Even on our own fields after a hard rain, the baseball fields would get all flooded and muddy.”
First Selectman Vicki Tesoro said the town is fully equipped to handle running the farmers market and that the Parks and Recreation Department has a plan in place.
“Regarding flooding concerns by the public at Twin Brooks Park, the recent improvements within Twin Brooks were designed to control high water events and control that process more effectively without damaging the sensitive environment or the infrastructure that has been developed within the park,” she said.
Improvements to Twin Brooks Park began in the winter of 2022 and included replacing decades-old corroded pipes with concrete culverts, placing sidewalks along the river to allow pedestrians and bicyclists to use the park more safely and planting hundreds of trees and vegetation to act as a buffer between the park and the Saw Mill River.
Previously, the corroded pipes caused the water
to flow onto Twin Brooks Drive, a road that passes through the park, and surrounding grass, damaging them during storms, officials said.
As a solution, Tesoro said vendors will be placed “around the main field just off the paved walkways” because that section is “beyond areas affected during minor flooding events.”
With the town now responsible for the event, it will be undergoing other changes as well.
In addition to the new location, there will also be a change in allowed vendors — and no food trucks will be permitted.
“We are offering produce and food; no crafts and services,” Tesoro said.
Carolina Rivas and her daughter Alexandra Munoz run a jewelry designing business together called Alexa and Mom and have worked as vendors at the farmers market for the past two years.
Rivas said that although they are sad about the change, they were invited to be vendors at another farmers market in downtown Milford for the 2024 season. She added that they will continue to show support for the farmers market as customers moving forward.
“In the end, the change at the Trumbull Farmers Market positively impacted our business. Sometimes drastic changes are necessary to continue growing,” Rivas said.
Propes said the shift in vendor selection was expected after the NIA executive board began forming a different approach toward running the farmers market. Limiting the vendors would hurt all the businesses because it would affect the market’s attendance, she said.
“Last year, we lost some really amazing fan favorite vendors,” Propes said. “Less vendors leads to less crowds and it changed the flavor of what the farmer’s market was.”
Susanne Berne, owner of Sweet Brioche Artisan Pastries, said she feels that the NIA made the right decision by letting the town run the farmers market.
“I think that not having a competing market is what’s best for the vendors,” she said. “Being a vendor at the farmers market, I know there’s only room for one so turning it over was the right thing for Nichols to do.”
Former NIA Presidents Mary Beth Thornton and Mark Schroeder worked together as market managers to organize the farmers market that ran in 2023 and said it was a struggle to keep it afloat by themselves.
“It was a simple fact that nobody wanted to run the market,” Thornton said. “When there was a turnover of the governing board, they needed somebody to run the farmers market because the previous market managers were no longer running it.”
She said that during the 2023 season, the farmers market only hosted 35 vendors compared with the 75 vendors it had the previous year.
“By that summer in June or July, I told the board to make sure they had someone onboard to run the market the next year,” Thornton said. “As time went by, weeks then months, Mark and I became more nervous about who was going to run this market, so we had them put it in a newsletter to the membership for the next season. But there were crickets; nobody answered.”
She said after that, they reached out to community groups and connected with Trumbull’s Parks and Recreation Department.
“I know the Parks and Recreation Superintendent Dmitri Paris and asked if he would consider running the market. He said yes and that he wanted a farmers market in Trumbull. It was serendipity,” she said.
Tesoro said Parks and Recreation officials and the NIA began discussing the idea of the town hosting the farmer’s market in the fall of 2023.
She said by February 2024, the NIA voted to “turn over all responsibilities associated with the market to the town of Trumbull.”
“Our sincere wish is that it continues to flourish and serve both Nichols and the greater Trumbull community. I also think it is very important to recognize the long-term impact that the Nichols Farmers Market has already made,” Bollert said. “It has been a cherished community event for many years and I’d like to extend the NIA’s gratitude to those who dedicated their time to its success. Merging with the town’s market ensures Nichols residents can still enjoy a farmers market with family and friends.”
While some residents were against the decision, others were hopeful about the change and asked the community to give it a chance.
“There’s not one perfect location. Every location has its pros and cons and I think everyone should be positive and supportive,” said Town Council Member Bill Mecca.
Mecca previously served as NIA president from 2014-16. During that time, the Trumbull Farmers Market was brought to the Nichols neighborhood after a smaller farmers market at Long Hill Green was struggling.
“At the time, it wasn’t very well attended,” he said. “It had no town support whatsoever, and by comparison to other markets, it really was a fledgling.”
Mecca said he worked alongside market managers Rob and Catherine Martini who “worked to establish the market at the NIA property on Huntington Turnpike.”
The farmers market was later led by Joanna and Rich Cerniglia, who navigated running it during the pandemic and moved it to the NIA ballfield on Unity Road, where it has remained up to this point.
“The Cerniglias deserve credit for helping to elevate it to another level and navigating though COVID-19,” Mecca said. “It just kept growing, but as something grows like other markets, it does require more volunteers and more sustainable resources of manpower.”
With spring approaching, Bollert said the NIA is optimistic of how the upcoming farmer’s market season will turn out.
“We hope that combining these events is successful for vendors, and that both Nichols and the greater Trumbull community continue to benefit for many years,” Bollert said.