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Contributed photo. David King and his son work to break down their booth Saturday while an Abingdon Police officer stands watch. 

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Farmers, town officials disagree

By CAITLIN SULLIVAN/Staff

It wasn’t so much that a police officer was brought in to close the Abingdon Farmers Market so the town could set up for its Sleepy Hollow Halloween party on Saturday as it was that the town told vendors they had to close early without discussion.
“It did seem very strange to order vendors from a farmers market,” said David King, a member of the market committee who has sold produce at the market since its inception.
He said the vendors knew beforehand that the market was going to close two hours early and around 10 a.m. they were in various stages of packing up.
Abingdon Police Chief Tony Sullivan said the town Parks and Recreation Department asked that the streets be closed at 10 a.m. and so that’s what his officer was doing.
“The streets were closed at 10 a.m.,” he said, “And we’re responsible for blocking the streets.”
Abingdon Mayor Lois Humphreys said using the facility on Saturday during farmer’s market hours was an isolated incident.
“If they had been out at 10 a.m., this would have never happened,” she said. “If they had come to us earlier and said this weekend didn’t work we could have moved it back to Main Street...they had made no comment.”
Vendors however, said the matter shows a lack of communication and respect.
“There’s a serious lack of communication between the Farmers Market committee and the town,” King said. “The town has just been very uncooperative.”
Mary Bell Boltwood who sells coffee at the market said closing early was bad for business, especially in light of the fact that a permanent sign outside the pavilion states that the market is open on Saturdays from 7 a.m.-noon.
“The local farmers were bumped out of their space so a kettle corn company from Johnson City could set up for a one o’clock event,” she said. “What’s more important?”
“If the customers can’t rely on (the market) then they’ll stop coming; then the growers can’t count on the customers,” Boltwood said. “For farmers it’s not a hobby, it’s their livelihood. The market benefits the vendor, customer and Abingdon Main Street. It all builds on each other, if they’re happy at the Farmers Market maybe they’ll stay in town a little longer. I just think the town does not recognize the benefit.”
Humphreys said the town and the farmers market will work together before next season.
“This is real new and hopefully there will be dialogue between all of us,” she said. “It’s all in its infancy. I feel like we should work out problems like this.”
She said she expects the pavilion to be used for the farmer’s market and town events.
“I had hoped that the farmers felt like we were doing something for them instead of being the bad guy,” she said. “It unfair that they feel like we should not have asked (to use the facility), it is a town facility and built with them in mind.”
Had this been mid-season, Humphreys said it could have been different.
“This is the very end of the season, there aren’t so many (vendors) there,” she said.
King said he grows specifically to sell at the farmers market and to sell to a local restaurant. He said on Saturday he lost about 20 percent of his revenue because he had to shut down early. Some vendors didn’t even show up that day because it wouldn’t have been worthwhile, he said.
“The farmer’s market is real important for our income at this point in the year,” he said. “If the town wants to keep up the good will for the people they’re working for, than they need to take steps to prevent something like that from happening in the future.”
To contact Caitlin Sullivan e-mail .