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by Gabe Stern
Hometown Weekly Intern
The weather was not ideal to have a farmers market last Tuesday, June 27, but many locals toughed out on-and-off rain to enjoy fresh, local produce from nearby businesses.
In the back parking lot of St. Margaret Mary Church - out of view from High street - four vendors set up their tents under ominous clouds that were a warning sign for the rain to come. 20 minutes after business was open to the public, a downpour started and continued in spurts for the next two hours.
Still, modest lines of customers stayed consistent throughout the day as many locals bundled up for what appeared to be a weekly routine for them. Many knew the vendors by name and stayed to chat while looking for what to buy.
Jim Cellucci, a local vendor who has owned a tent in the farmers market since its inception five years ago, did not seem too worried about the rain affecting customer turnout. “The weather can have a little bit of an impact on it... [but] I feel that most people still come, even if it’s sprinkling.” This confidence was in large part a result of many customers who Cellucci sees every week.
“You definitely see a lot of the same customers coming back. Then you hope to get the word spread and get more people in here.”
One obstacle that likely does not help attract more customers is the seemingly hidden location of the farmers market - resting in the back parking lot of St. Margaret Mary Church - and the fact that there are only four vendors in attendance, leaving little choice for where attendees can get their food. Nevertheless, what has established the vendor’s loyal base of regular customers is not the quantity of vendors or its location away from public view, but the fact that everything on the market is made locally.
“I think it’s the quality of the products that gets them here,” Cellucci explained as the rain came down around his tent. “The vegetables are all fresh. I know the fish comes right here from the pier in Boston, and the breads I bring here are usually right out of the oven.”
Gabrielle Hurley, the community organizer who oversees the farmers market, dittoed Cellucci’s point, saying that the reliability of the selection helps differentiate this shopping experience from that of a supermarket. “You’ll meet the people who are actually putting in the time and effort to grow or make [the products] … [with] the fish and seafood, you see exactly where it came from and it’s all right off the boat.”
This is why, on a rainy Tuesday afternoon in the back parking lot of a neighborhood church, community members of all ages still came in to shop locally.
The Westwood Farmers Market takes place every Tuesday until October 10 from 1 to 6 p.m.
