Trumansburg Farmers’ Market
Timeline & History
Before there was a Farmers’ Market
We’re not sure what was on the site of the present-day Farmers’ Market long ago. In the 1940s it was the site of the Burg Movie Theater which was in operation for about 10 years. It was started by two brothers, John and James Ryan. The building was a converted barn that had served as the livery stable for the Taughannock House Hotel. It was the victim of arson in 1956, and was then demolished. Movie theater information can be found here.
The first season
2002 The Trumansburg Farmers’ Market began with support from Cornell Cooperative Extension, the Ithaca Farmers’ Market, Trumansburg Village, and other entities. The impetus for the Trumansburg Market and other rural Markets in the area was to create Farmers’ Markets in underserved communities, and to have a “youth consignment stand” at each Market. Lucy Garrison-Clauson was the Market Coordinator, and part of her job was organizing the consignment stand, to be run by a group of Trumansburg teens hired through Cooperative Extension as part of a “first job” program. The consignment stand sold vegetables from a variety of farmers, and the teens learned about produce, nutrition, and a little about the farming side of things, as well as customer service skills and tracking sales while running the stand. One of those teens was Avi Miner, who became the Market Manager 10 years later. The Trumansburg Market also had 8-10 vendors that first year, including Lael Eisman, who is still a vendor with Six Circles Farm, Gordy Gallup, Glen Bucien, Jill Swenson, Tina MacSheyne, John Wertis, and others.
The Early Years
“It was HARD work on a basically zero budget to promote market, especially not having social media back in those days. We basically had only a few of us set up around the tree every Wednesday afternoon. When we were fortunate enough to get a vendor named Jen to do a chicken BBQ, that really helped draw people in.” - Tina MacSheyne, an early vendor and the first Market President
John Wertis remembers raising goats and trying to sell goat meat at one of the earliest markets. It was not a big hit, but he says, “Turning goat meat into "summer sausage" that could be eaten directly without cooking was a sales success story. Also, it was fun to barter the sausage for products at the Farmer's Market, like Eric's hard cider, where two pounds of summer sausage was swapped for one bottle of cider.”
According to notes following the 2004 season, they considered moving the Market location, but as we know, that didn’t happen. Just think - where would the Market be now, had they moved it? And would it have become so successful?
At first, the Market was run by a few people, but eventually a Trumansburg Farmers’ Market Board was formed, though it was, and remains, a committee of the Village. However, it functions as a Board.
Early on, the vendors all set up tents in the grassy area. Over the years, various structures have been added, all thanks to Alan Vogel.
Pavilions and a Nod to the Volunteers
2010 The pavilions were built following grants obtained by Monica Roth from Cooperative Extension, Deidre Cunningham (Market Manager at the time), and the Village of Trumansburg. There was a fundraiser for the pavilion build in March 2010 at the Cayuga Nature Center, at which Jeb Puryear and friends played and Peggy Haine was the auctioneer for donated items. The event raised just over $10,000. Design meetings were held with Steve Gibian, Aaron Dennis (Tugley Wood Timberframing), John Ullberg, Alan Vogel, Dave Burke, Cheryl Thompson, Rob Cassetti, and others. Prior to the one-weekend community build to construct the pavilions, there were two weekends of cutting all the joinery with supervision from Aaron Dennis and Maria Klemperer. The DPW helped with installation of sonotubes to anchor the structures.
Many people have been instrumental in many aspects of building the structures at the market over the years. John Ullberg helped draw, design, and worked on many of the facets. Also of significant importance has been the Fingerlakes GrassRoots festival. Any time that structures were built during Grassroots, they provided tickets and often food for the volunteers. Many of the picnic tables we use are borrowed from Grassroots.
Scott Hannan also helped with the structures, including donating and sawing wood for the willow tree table in 2022, and transporting lumber as needed. Durand Van Doren created the ornamentation on top of a number of the buildings and the moving picnic tables. Andy Norberg, (deceased, Northstar electric) volunteered the wiring with additional volunteer assistance. Ken Carson of Carson excavating, Jim McKenna and Fingerlakes Stone have been very generous with large pieces of stone.
Significant Improvements to the Market, Following the 2010 Pavilion Build
2011 Stone steps were added as an entrance to the Market off of Route 96, along with the stone picnic table that sits next to the current Manager’s office / children’s plays-pace, again with the assistance of the DPW.
2011 Music added to the ambiance and community spirit of the Market, and in 2011, the music pavilion was added. The pavilion was originally built at Grassroots and used there to check it out. It was then moved to the Farmers’ Market with the help of the Village DPW.
2012 The Manager’s office / children’s playspace was added. Like the music pavilion, it was built and checked out at Grassroots, and moved to the Farmers’ Market with the help of the Village DPW.
2013 The kids’ stage was added; like the other structures, it was originally built and tested out at Grassroots.
2016 The outhouses were replaced with real bathrooms - a significant improvement. The bathroom building was designed as a climbing structure for the Tough Turtle event at the Children’s Garden in Cass Park, in Ithaca. It was paid for by what is now Howard Hanna real estate as a donation to both the Children’s Garden and the Trumansburg Farmers’ Market. When the turtle event at the Children’s Garden was over, the roof was added, and the structure was finished as the bathroom it now is. The DPW was very important in that project helping install the water and sewer connection.
2020 Despite the COVID pandemic, the Market had an excellent season.
Following the 2021 Market season, the giant willow tree was cut down, due to too much interior rot. In 2022, the giant stump that remained was turned into a lovely stand-around table.
2022 Our 20th Anniversary!
Market Managers Through the Years
2001 - 2007: Jill Swenson
2008 - 2011: Deirdre Cunningham
2012- 2017: Avi Miner
2018: Elaine Springer
2019: Julia Arriaran
2020 - Present: Natalie Baris
