Fresh theme of farmers market
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STEUBENVILLE -- Eugene Crowder had just finished shopping Thursday morning and was carrying bags full of fresh produce and baked goods to his truck.
A Steubenville resident, he said visits to the vendors at the Steubenville Downtown Farmers Market have become a regular part of his week.
“I come most of the time,” he explained, adding that he was a big fan of the zucchini bread and the banana bread. He said it also was a way to recognize the farmers and other vendors who make up the weekly market.
“It’s important to support them,” Crowder said. “And they give you better deals than what the other stores do.”
The market has been a staple of the downtown area for decades. It has called several locations home during that time, but for the last several years it has settled into the lot at the corner of South and South Fourth streets, where the old Grant School building was located.
Helping Crowder load his selections into his vehicle was Lynn McLeish, who sells baked goods and other treats. She said the market offers a welcoming atmosphere.
“This market is so friendly,” she said. “We’re like one big family of vendors.”
Selling baked goods next to McLeish was Jamie Honeywell of Shadyside, who said business was good.
“I usually sell out every week,” she explained while pointing to an array of cookies, cinnamon buns and other items.
Coordinating the market for the Steubenville Visitor Center is Mary Snyder. She said the quality of the products brought in each week helps drive the success of the market, which is held from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. each Thursday through October, with the possibility of being extended to the first week in November.
“It’s primarily the fresh produce,” said Snyder, who has been the manager since 2012. “There is just about everything when you look at the stands around here. There are greens, cabbages, tomatoes -- everything imaginable. And it’s fresh, it’s local and it’s extremely good. If you go to the grocery store and see the prices there, and you’re not getting fresh -- it’s being shipped in from who-knows-where.”
Produce, baked goods, meats, jams, jellies and other food items are the focus. Snyder said shoppers like to come early so they can find the best selection.
“It’s not a market where a lot of crafts or things like that sell -- we’ve tried that,” Snyder said. “They are basically coming for the food, the fresh food and the good prices.”
McLeish said the organizers work hard to make the market comfortable for customers as well as vendors. That keeps both groups happy and encourages them to return.
“They are wonderful to us,” she said. “They are the best people to work with. Mary and Jerry (Barilla, from Historic Fort Steuben and the visitor center) bend over backward to help.”
Snyder and the vendors said that while they see familiar faces every week, they also encounter new shoppers. That’s something that helps keep the market going.
“We’ve established a great clientele here,” said Carl Angiuli of Angiuli’s Farm Market in Canfield. “We’ve been coming for a long time, a lot of years. I would say it’s been 20 years that we have been coming here. There are good customers and great people who we serve. I just enjoy it.”
He said he comes every week with the staples -- corn, tomatoes, peppers and beans. Lately, he added, customers are looking for more greens, including lettuce, kale, collard greens and cabbages. Angiuli said as word about the market continues to spread, the crowds have gotten larger and younger people have started to take notice.
Shoppers also can purchase frozen meat from Seldom Seen Farm and Forage. Zach Devitt said customers of the booth operated by the Carrollton-based farm appreciate the wide selection available.
“We raise our beef and our neighbor raises our lambs for us, and we just started making our own jerky,” he said. “I’m here every week. People love the steaks and they always come back for the roasts. We get a lot of return customers, which is nice.”
In addition to the standard offerings, Devitt said they sell some things that can be difficult to locate.
“We’ve got some of the weird cuts, including flanken-style short ribs. We’ve got tongue, we’ve got heart and we’ve got liver. We try to sell as much as we can. We have some Denver steaks and some things you can’t find in the store,” he added.
“Steubenville has been very good to us,” Devitt said. “We only go to two -- we go here and to Canton.”
Having that variety is important to customers.
“I come for the selection and to help support the local people,” said George Gaughenbaugh of Weirton, who added that he tries to come every week and had just picked up some fresh tomatoes for his wife. “This just dies on the vine if you don’t keep it up.”
Snyder, who also serves as assistant to the director at Historic Fort Steuben, said the market not only offers a place where area residents can purchase fresh food, but it also helps support the economy, especially for the vendors, which include Russell’s Produce of Wellsville and Woolf Farms.
“It’s important for these farmers and vendors who are the staples of this country,” she said. “These are the people who have their businesses and they’re making a living -- it’s not a big company. It’s giving them an opportunity to make some money.”
It also comes with an added benefit, according to Alorah Beighey of Chester, who works at Nothing Bundt Cakes in Robinson Township and sells the product every week.
“I think we really like to just bring the joy,” she said.