Hello Market Friends:
I had some special chats with people who stopped by for birthday cake last week, and I found out that another member of our depot staff, Maya Larrondo, was a ‘market baby’, one of many children who grew up making the trek to Dufferin Grove every week with their parents.
My kids grew up in the park too. Did we know how lucky we were to have that green space for them to run wild in, to be able to choose from Pizza Tuesdays, Friday night suppers with market ingredients, skating followed by park cookies and hot chocolate, and to be part of the warm community of the market?
Growing up knowing the people who grow and make our food and learning something of what goes into producing it in a way that sustains the earth is a life-shaping experience. Let’s keep sight of that as we move forward in these uncertain times.
[recent_products per_page=”4″ orderby=”rand”]We have a wonderful contingent of elders, too. One who was very dear to our hearts, Stan Babad, passed away last week at the age of 94. Leslie Lindsay writes: “Stan discovered the market late in life and rarely missed attending until the pandemic. He was a big hearted market supporter who believed in the power of community for change. The market was a gathering place for him, a place to connect socially with friends and make new ones.”
When the pandemic forced us to go online, Leslie took on the task of ordering market fare for Stan and cycling to his home to drop it off. His weekly market delivery was one of the highlights of Stan’s week for the past year and a half. A note from Nicole: “Missing you already Stan, along with your unique and quirky combination of wisdom and humour, that I truly cherished. Thanks for all that you shared with me.” xxn
The market will be ‘parkless’ for a while yet, but ordering delicious food from our site supports our farmers and vendors and keeps the spirit of the market going strong until the time comes when we can celebrate together in Dufferin Grove.
Because some people don’t know that we are still around, you can also help out the market by reviewing us on Google or Facebook. Your comments will help others discover Dufferin Grove Market and Web Store and let us know how we’re doing. Thanks!
Great news! Next week, Plan B returns to the market! They will make sure we have a healthy selection of organic options throughout the winter months.
Our Anniversary Celebrations continue throughout November, with lots of specials from the vendors, including new ones added this week.
[ux_products orderby=”sales” show=”onsale”]Enjoy the best of the season; order from the market!Warmly,
Anne and the Market Crew
P.S. The winners of last week’s ‘photo ID’ contest and lucky recipients of $10 in market credit are faithful market fans Mel and Ira. Here is the full list of market stars (left to right, top to bottom):
PIa Perez, park staffer and market assistant in her Hallowe’en best, now a filmmaker;
George the Banjo Man giving his hat to Stan on the occasion of Stan’s 90th birthday;
Nicole Jacobs, depot Pickup Captain, aka ‘The Parsley Princess’;
Rodrigo Venturelli of Plan B Organic Farms and
Damon Dewsbury jamming in the garage;
Kevin Hamilton, formerly of Shared Harvest, now managing the Hamilton Urban Farm;
Wolf Chrapko, former market rep for Everdale Farm, now a mechanic in Penetanguishene;
Herschel Stroyman, photographer, philosopher, activist;
Ted Thorpe’s longtime helper, Ron, and much-loved and sorely missed vendor Ali Harris;
Jutta Mason, who started it all in Dufferin Grove and is still conducting research in the park.