SEQUIM — Farmers’ markets feed at least two parts of us, Lisa Bridge believes: our bellies and our need for connection with our neighbors.
Bridge, 32, and a farmer herself, is the new director of the Sequim Open Aire Market, a seasonal Saturday gathering of food and art vendors that she hopes to beef up.
That’s a literal phrase, in that the Clark family farm north of Sequim plans to add its locally raised beef to the mix of Dungeness Valley produce available at the Open Aire Market next spring.
Bridge can hardly wait for opening day in mid-May.
“I really believe in the soul of the market as a place for the community to come together,” she said, “and keep the local economy pumping.”
On a typical spring, summer or fall Saturday, the market puts about 50 vendors on Cedar Street.
And it flourished in a new way in 2009, said Mark Ozias, manager for the past four years.
While the market’s artisans have always attracted tourists and gift-buyers, locals in greater numbers discovered it as a place to do their weekly food shopping, he said.
It used to be that produce from farmers’ stands accounted for about 16 percent of total Open Aire sales. That jumped to around 28 percent this year, Ozias noted, adding that sales of farmstead cheeses, fish and baked goods took that a little higher, to more than 30 percent.
“I believe it is the beginning of a sea change,” he said.
“It was local patrons who sustained vendors in 2009.”
As the market enters its 15th year in 2010, Bridge wants to build on that.
She envisions more farmers — even 4-H youth and their animals at the market — plus trips out into the county so she and vendors can present their stories to service clubs and other groups.
Meantime, the market’s sales volume is parked on a plateau.
Between 2006 and 2007, gross sales nearly doubled to just shy of $250,000. But that sum stayed steady in both 2008 and 2009, Ozias said.
Chosen for passion, skills, ideas
Open Aire Market board member Connie Durant said Bridge was chosen for her passion, her skills and her ideas for growing the market.
She and her husband, Joe Bridge, run the Rainbow Farm on Towne Road north of Sequim, and plan to sell their fresh eggs and other produce next spring.
And until recently, they worked on the Lamb Farm west of town, growing oats and other grain.
They were laid off amid the recession, Bridge said. Joe now teaches music at Aspire Academy of Expressive Arts in Carlsborg; he and his wife are also new parents to 10-month-old Olive.
Next season
Bridge is already preparing to meet with potential vendors for the 2010 season and planning the Winter Warmup, an indoor version of the Open Aire Market on Feb. 13 at the Sequim Boys & Girls Club, 400 W. Fir St.
“She is full of positive energy,” Durant said of Bridge.
“And she has a friendly and sincere personality which will represent [the market] well with vendors and with the community.”
Though the position is part-time with a pay range of just $14 to $20 per hour, the board received 26 applications from around the Northwest.
Farmers’ markets typically have trouble keeping managers; the Port Townsend market had three in three years before current boss Will O’Donnell arrived, and the Port Angeles Farmers Market had five chiefs in six years, according to Cynthia Warne, who took over in July.
Four-year tenure
Ozias was unusual in that he stayed four years. His dedication shows in the event’s good health, said Bridge.
“Mark has so much love for the market,” she added.
Ozias and his wife, Lisa Boulware, are planning to open the Red Rooster, a downtown Sequim grocery store to specialize in local produce and other goods from the Dungeness Valley, in March.
“Right now, we are just freaking out because there is so much to do,” Ozias said Monday.
Across the North Olympic Peninsula — despite the global economic meltdown — farmers’ markets have grown like zucchinis in August. Port Townsend’s practically exploded this year, enjoying an $85,000 increase in sales over 2008, to a grand total of $887,000.
That market’s vendor count swelled, too, from about 60 last year to 75 in 2009.
The Port Angeles Farmers Market saw sales leap from about $178,400 last year to $294,000 this year, Warne said. The average vendor count rose, too, to 20 vendors per week.
Port Angeles is a different animal, however.
While Sequim and Port Townsend’s outdoor markets ended Dec. 19, the Port Angeles Farmers Market toughs it out year-round, offering fresh seafood, winter vegetables and other local products every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. under The Gateway pavilion at Front and Lincoln streets.
The way to attract more shoppers, market managers agree, is to attract a varied bunch of vendors. So Bridge, Warne and O’Donnell have their arms open to newcomers.
Bridge can be reached via www.SequimMarket.com or 360-460-2668.
Warne is at www.FarmersMarketPortAngeles.com or 360-460-0361, while the Port Townsend market provides information at www.PTfarmersmarket.org and 360-379-9098.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.