On February 4 of this year Michael Siegel, a recent transplant to the Ellenville area, received a letter from Mayor Jeff Kaplan asking him to head a committee to create a new, permanent farmers market to be located at the vacant lot at the intersection of Center and Market Street. The market will be open from 10 am to 2 pm every Sunday starting on June 10 of this year.

Siegel, who has been on the board of other farmers markets and was recently selected as having the best organic eggs in the Hudson Valley by Hudson Valley Magazine, agreed and quickly put together a committee that includes several local businesspeople (such as Sam Bugna, Martin Rabkin, Barbara Hoff, Bill Tochterman, Sharon Richman, Carolyn Peters-Baker, Mary Ellen Fleming) interested citizens (Iris Friedman, Roger Baker, Jeff Geolliher) and Mayor Jeff Kaplan.

"It's been a wonderful group. Everyone's been very enthusiastic," says Siegel.

The group has been divided into a series of subcommittees, each focused on an aspect of the market's development: publicity, administrative, crop planning (which recruits and selects vendors), site planning, and community outreach.

"We are using the Kingston Farmers Market [a very successful area market] as our model."

Siegel was quite happy to report that several local farms had already expressed interest in the idea. "We already have more than my original goal of six to eight vendors."

Vendors that have expressed interest in joining the market include Blue Marble Farms, Davenport Farms, Jenkins-Leuken Farm, Kiss My Face, and Bread Alone among others. Local businesses, including Cohen's Bakery, Lock 31, Barthel's, Peters' Market, and the Eastern World Market have also expressed interest.

Mayor Kaplan explained his interest in the proposal by saying, "We wanted to make use of the space in a way that would generate foot traffic in the village's business district." He felt that the village government's involvement would offer a greater opportunity for success than previous efforts because, "Last time, the farmers were trying to do the whole thing themselves. This time, the village is trying to act as a facilitator." The mayor said he looked forward to seeing people, "drinking coffee, walking around and having a lively downtown."

Siegel says the market should boast a healthy assortment of foods (meats, cheeses, fruits, vegetables, bread, pies) and crafts. He went on to say that he hopes to stagger the arrangement of the vendors' booths so that they will move along Center Street and turn down Market Street where the goal is to create a corridor that will bring people to and from the antiques dealers that will be setting up each Sunday in front of the Hunt Memorial Building. "The idea is that people will meander from one spot to the next and create some foot traffic in the downtown area."

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