History of Our Farmers' Market

The Melrose Farmer's Market was started in 1994 by Sally Frank. Sally wanted to be able to buy fresh local corn without driving large distances.  The Melrose Farmer's Market is one of the longest running farmer's market in the area.  Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources has record of the number of farmers markets going back to 1977 where 7 markets existed.  In 1994 there were 79 farmers markets in Massachusetts.  Now, in 2011, there are 244 farmers' markets - more than triple the number since Sally began - she was clearly at the start of the farmers' market upward booming curve.  

Sally passed the baton to Heather Macdonald in 2005. The then and now Mayor of Melrose, Rob Dolan, dedicated the farmer's market to Sally Frank in October 2005.  Thus the new name of the market became the Sally Frank's Farmers' Market.  

Heather volunteered to run the market on her own from 2005 until 2010.  In 2010, 2 new people introduced themselves to Heather asking if they could help grow the market and make it more accessible to all people in Melrose. Renee Tennison, who grew up in Melrose and again lives in Melrose, and Cindy Chabot, who has lived in Melrose since 1998, have helped to increase the number of farmers, make the time of the market more available for people who work outside the city during the day, and look for a larger location that will allow the market to grow.  

Over the winter, we called over 200 possible local farms within the Middlesex and Essex County areas- a list given to us by the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources who we have been working very closely with.  We then explored further afield into Norfolk, Plymouth and Worcester Counties.  What we found was that there are now many farmers' market in Massachusetts and there are not enough farmers to go around.  Many of the farms have disappeared leaving only a small pool left to draw from.  Consequently, as demand for food from our own local area increases, so too do the farms.  But, as a 'chicken and egg' scenario, it will take time for the farms to grow.  Consequently, we were only able to increase the number of vendors at the market this year by only a few.  What we hope is that if we make this year's farmers' market successful, it will make Melrose more appealing to farmers as we try again this winter to make plans for next year.  

The farmers' market has been behind City Hall running from 10am to 3pm from 1994 until 2010.  The time is convenient for people who work downtown or in Melrose during the day.  However, it is impossible for a large chunk of people who work outside of Melrose during the day to be able to go to the market.  So the second order of business was to change the time to allow these people the ability to go to the market.  The new time from 2pm to 7pm has a small overlap from the long running market as well as the extension into the evening to allow as many people to be able to go to the market as possible.  Before we finalized the change, we surveyed people about the time change as well as a change to the day.  The responses were mixed, but the majority responded that the evening time frame would work better than the current day time during the week.   

The location of the farmers' market has turned out to be a larger challenge than expected.  We continue to search for a place that is level, accessible for both market goers and farmers setting up, parking for both market-goers and farmers, a central location convenient to Melrose residents, and electricity for vendors and lighting as the season moves into fall.  The search continues - a detail of which would be the subject of another article.  The interns working in City Hall this summer have also worked on their own study, which we will post as soon as they have completed it.  

The most recent locations under consideration include the park in front of the Dick Lyons Tennis Courts on the corner of Tremont St. and the Lynnfells Parkway, the Ell Pond Park near the Gazebo, and Cedar Pond Park on W. Emerson.  We will present these locations to the Park Commission at their monthly meeting August 8, 2011 at 7pm.  In the meantime, the First United Methodist Church, at 645 Main Street, has been kind enough to allow us to use their front lawn until we are able to find a permanent location.  

Sally still comes to the farmers' market to buy her produce.  We hope that next year we will have an even larger market at a location that will be suitable to everyone.  But we have a lot of work ahead of us.  The challenge to grow the farmers' market in Melrose has proven to be much more complicated than any of us expected.  But we persevere.