There should be less need for fans of the Millarville Farmers’ Market to come charging out to the weekly event in their sweatpants this year.
Market manager Carmen Ditzler said a shopper friendly adjustment has been made to its hours of operation for its new season starting Saturday, June 11.
“We’re now open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.,” she said. “We used to only be open until noon. It gives people the chance to not be in a hurry on Saturday morning.”
Previously, the market opened at 8 a.m., but starting an hour later while exceeding the previous closing time gives merchants and customers both more opportunity to make their way to the market at the Millarville Race Track.
Ditzler said it should lesson the disappointment some visitors experienced in the past.
“Vendors travelled quite a long way and had all their great displays in place and we would be closing before people were even finished coming through the gates,” she said.
Okotoks residents Allan Palmer is entering his third year of selling bowls, bottle stoppers and other items made on his wood lathe exclusively at Millarville Market. He said he’s pleased to see the shift in its operation schedule.
“The way it was before, when noon would come around there would still be an awful lot of people there,” Palmer said. “It almost seemed like we would be giving them the bums’ rush saying, ‘Let’s go. Get out. We’re closing.’ Personally, starting a little bit later in the morning is a good thing too.”
Palmer said he looks forward to not feeling so rushed as he’s heading out to the racetrack to set up his wares and prepare for greeting customers.
The Millarville Farmers’ Market is the second largest outdoor market in the province. It features more than 170 vendors including food producers, clothing makers and craftspeople. Two new bakers, a southern Alberta cheese maker and an additional greenhouse grower are all new to the market this year.
Another notable change visitors will find comes at the concession.
“The name of the concession is being changed to Threepoint Kitchen,” she explained. “We’re going to be serving as much local food as possible there.”
The market manager explained the menu will be similar but the facility will now be open longer for lunch and the meat, produce and other ingredients used at the concession will come mainly form local producers.
This move will put the concession in line with the Farm to Table initiative announced earlier this year by the Millarville Racing and Agricultural Society to support local growers and producers. A Farm to Table booth at the market this year will provide people with more information on the program.
One thing the Millarville Market has always been renowned for is bringing in goods hard to find anywhere else. Take for example the desserts produced by Alberta Whisky Cake.
Company founder Kamla Hari McGonigal said she tried countless other recipes before she came up with her signature whisky cake, available in chocolate and maple.
She said she’s found the local outdoor market is the ideal place to move her unusual culinary creation.
“Last year was my first year at the Millarville Market,” she said. “I am at every one of them. I never miss one even though I have a fulltime job. I am there for the full 18 plus the three days of the Christmas market. In my case it allows people to be able to talk to the person who actually developed the cakes.”
Hari McGonigal said this is important to her because she is selling the cakes in hopes of gathering enough funds to establish an arts centre for marginalized youth. Being on site at the market allows her to not only sell her cakes but also promote her cause. It also lets her explain the art lithographs she includes in each cake box. The cards feature the work of local emerging artists she is looking to promote.
The Millarville Farmers’ Market goes rain or shine, every Saturday through Oct. 8. The organizers are celebrating their June 11 opening with a free pancake breakfast. For more information on the market go to www.millarvilleracetrack.com
