Steve Wilson of Aurora took his final trip to the downtown area where he lives Saturday morning in order to visit the local farmers market one more time.
“I think they’ve done the best they could this year given the pandemic, and I do kind of miss the days when they had this at the Metra station,” Wilson said. “I bought a lot of corn this year, and I love the bread, and it’s nice to see a few friends that come here every week.”
The 108th year of Illinois’ longest-running Farmers Market came to a close Saturday morning in Aurora as shoppers made their last pilgrimage to 65 Water St. to buy fall fruits and vegetables.
This year’s COVID season presented challenges regarding the total of vendors as well as managing the number of shoppers and their time at the market, but organizers said that, overall, things went very well.
“We had a regular stream of visitors throughout the season and didn’t have to regulate the number of people going in and out to keep our numbers safe,” said Special Events Coordinator and Farmers Market Manager Karla Thomas. “Overall, I think things went better this season than I expected – things started out a little rocky and we didn’t know what to expect, but I was happy with it.”
Thomas said she wound up averaging about 30 vendors a week – down from previous years where as many as 50 attended two years ago and even more 80 nearly a decade earlier.
Regardless of vendor totals, Thomas said she received favorable comments throughout the season as “people were happy to have a place to go.”
“People mentioned being happy to have the market and something to do in order to get out,” she said. “My own thoughts are I’m happy to do this and while I had to stay back this year and not walk around and talk to people – if COVID was still here next year, I’d be happy to keep this exactly as it was.”
Shoppers Saturday expressed satisfaction with the market’s makeover due to COVID but many were also whimsical about it being the last time until next spring.
“I come here most weekends and have supported the market throughout the season,” said Aurora resident Terri Toomey. “I try to buy things I’m going to make for the week, and I love the cheese they have here. I also look for whatever is spotlighted or new, and it’s kind of a letdown I’ll have to wait to come again until next year.”
Merchants like Jonathan Van Laar who owns a self-named fruit farm north of Rockford said he has been one of the vendors the past three to four years and this season was by far his best.
“Our sales are up at least 40% and I think the market did a phenomenal job,” he said. “I think in light of COVID, it’s more important than ever to bring fresh food to the customer and an open-air market is the best way to do it. If things aren’t different next year, we’re still looking forward to coming back and whatever the year brings.”
Thomas said one of this year’s new and most successful vendors was BillyDoe Meats of Hoffman Estates.
Tim Anwar, who is part of the family that owns the company, agreed this season “exceeded our expectations” and that the 22-year-old family business was anxious to come back.
“We were looking to come to a market in the south suburbs but when we found out about Aurora – we wanted to come here,” Anwar said. “A lot of people didn’t know who we were, but once they tried our products – they’ve come back every week.”
John and Diana Leonard of Aurora agreed that BiilyDoe Meats have become one of their go-to places this season and said they have enjoyed some of the more exotic meats.
“We like the lamb and goat and would buy buffalo if they had it,” John said. “We’ve been coming to market since we moved here four years ago and are here at least twice a month.”
Wilson admitted he too was sad about the market closing but noted that there was still a silver lining.
“In a way, I’m not sad the market is closing since this is going to save me $60 or $70 a week,” he said.