Clarenville Farm and Market vandalized on opening weekend
Grounds damaged on Sunday night after Saturday’s ribbon cutting
While it should have been a happy weekend for the community of Clarenville — the grand opening of the Clarenville Farm and Market on Saturday — some vandalism on Sunday night put a damper on the celebration.
Farm and Market committee vice-chairwoman Kathryn Small said Monday morning they discovered some vandalism at the site.
She says two of the five canopies for the outside vendors to the side of the main tent have been destroyed.
“(The canopies) were literally toppled to shreds. … They tore plants out of the garden, they took garbage buckets and threw them around,” Small said.
There were some minor instances during the construction phase, before fencing went up, with ATVS on the topsoil, but this is much worse, she said.
“This is what we’re trying to do for the community, and to have it destroyed like that so maliciously…. ”
On Saturday, the Farm and Market was opened, featuring dozens of craft and farm vendors, onsite vegetables and plants, and even a root cellar. There was a ribbon-cutting and speeches from various dignitaries for the non-profit organization’s celebration.
Krista Chatman, the market’s manager, says everything was fine until Sunday evening, when employees were checking the site and watering plants.
She says she decided to leave some of the tent roofs out because they were wet and needed to dry. She linked them together with zip ties and tied them to the fence.
Upon further investigation, Chatman says, the rope was untied and the ties were cut.
“It’s just really disheartening,” said Chatman.
She says gates were being installed on Monday and they’re trying to ensure the security cameras will be operational more quickly.
“You know what? Stuff like this happens. All along, we’ve been pretty lucky, so we’re going to take this and put up more security measures,” Chatman said.