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Historic Lewes Farmers Market thanks community

October 21, 2012

The Historic Lewes Farmers Market thanks our patrons, volunteers, vendors, and so many other supporters for making our seventh market season the best market yet.  This summer brought a bounty of achievements for the market - all made possible by all of you.

In 2012, in a nationwide contest sponsored by American Farmland Trust, the HLFM was voted Delaware’s Favorite Farmers Market.  We were also featured in a USA Today article titled “10 Great Places to Shop at a Farmers Market” and voted Best Farmers Market by Delaware Today.

Our proudest achievement, though, is the selection of our volunteers as recipients of Gov. Markell’s Outstanding Volunteer Service Award for Community Service.  This honor recognizes the thousands of hours that HLFM volunteers dedicate to making the Lewes market so special.  As Gov. Markell  said, award recipients, including our terrific volunteers, “clearly demonstrate how . . . one group can make a difference in many lives.”

Without our enthusiastic, loyal volunteers, the HLFM could not succeed, as it did again this year, in providing our community with fresh, nutritious, sustainably grown produce and other farm products.

In addition to our volunteers, there are so many others who make the market possible.  Our fabulous vendors work incredibly hard to bring all of us healthful and delicious products each Saturday morning.  From tender spring vegetables to the dizzying array of robust tomatoes offered at the tomato festival to those delectable lima beans in the fall, our vendors give us the gorgeous tastes of the seasons.  Our sincere thanks to our wonderful vendors for the work they do and the food they produce.

We cannot say enough to thank our loyal and enthusiastic patrons.  Over the last seven years, the market has exploded in popularity, with many, many visitors enjoying our vendors’ fresh and varied offerings.  We enjoy seeing both our regular customers and so many visitors from other areas and particularly relish watching their delight in our vendors’ goods.  Our patrons’ support of the market, in turn, allows the HLFM to support sustainable farming through education and scholarships, which in turn leads to more and even better farm products - a healthy cycle for all of us here in Delmarva.

The market also prospers due to the support of federal, state, and local government officials.  The HLFM thank Sen. Tom Carper and Sen. Chris Coons, Sussex County Councilwoman Joan Deaver and Rep. Pete Schwarzkopf  for visiting our market and providing encouragement.  We also thank Ed Kee, Delaware secretary of agriculture, and his staff for their steadfast support of our market and the growing community of farmers markets throughout the state.  We also thank Mayor Jim Ford and the Lewes City Council for their active support of the market.
Part of the HLFM educational mission is the demonstrations at the market each Saturday.  We are tremendously grateful to the many local restaurants, master gardeners, and “green” organizations that provided the imaginative, informative, and delicious demonstrations and workshops on everything from the miraculous properties of local herbs to the growing aquaculture movement.

Finally, we thank the Lewes Library, and particularly the Children’s Librarian Maureen Miller, for partnering with us every Saturday in reading to children at the market.  Maureen’s spell-binding readings are teaching the next generation about nutrition and responsible farming.

To those who wish to learn more about the HLFM, our goal is to support sustainable agricultural practices and address issues of national interest concerning sustainable farming and the food we eat while providing education on the importance and value of fresh local produce. We hope you will visit our website, www.historiclewesfarmersmarket.org, where you will find additional information about the HLFM and our Market as well as information and links to other community and national organizations and resources.

Thank you all for your continued support, and we look forward to seeing you at the Lewes Historical Society complex when we open on May 11, 2013, for our eighth season.

Consistent with its mission, the board of directors of the HLFM is committed to supporting farmers and emerging farmers who grow local fruits, vegetables and produce - a “real” farmers market.

Board of Directors
Historic Lewes Farmers Market

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