The Forestville Farmers’ Market is open from 1 to 5 p.m. every Thursday afternoon. This past week, more than a handful of local vendors brought their goods to Main Street to sell to their neighbors.

Tom DeGolier, Manager of the Market, said the Market has “a good amount of traffic” compared to how it once was in its infancy before moving to Main Street. He said the community has provided “a lot of positive feedback” to the Market’s new hours and location, outside of Cave’s Deli on Main Street.

The Forestville Farmers’ Market is far from the largest in the area, but like the hamlet it calls home, it is about connection between neighbors and community pride. The majority of the vendors participating are local to Forestville, including DeGolier’s maple syrup and candies, which appeared to be a hit with the small crowd on hand Thursday afternoon.

The Forestville Farmers’ Market features local produce from Feinen Farms and Fred Farms, as well as many other baked goods and sweets. Imagine Forestville maintains a tent, while ceramics and various other handcrafted products are also for sale.

The Forestville Farmers’ Market features local produce from Feinen Farms (pictured) and Fred Farms, as well as many other baked goods and crafts.

Prior to last year, Forestville’s local farmers had been participating as part of the Fredonia Farmers’ Market. Still, Imagine Forestville had always wanted to bring its own event to town for its residents to experience.

“This was one of the brainchilds of Imagine Forestville,” DeGolier said.

Aimee Rogers and Nancy Adams Fry were the driving forces in founding Forestville’s own Main Street Farmers’ Market.

“We always dreamed of this. A Forestville Farmers’ Market was always in the back of our mind,” Aimee Rogers, the President of Imagine Forestville, said at the grand opening.

The goal was to bring back the community engagement the small hamlet used to have many years ago. Nancy Adams Fry said, “Everybody had fond memories of how many people would come in to buy things in the different stores we had.”

The block outside of Cave’s Deli on Main Street was secured as a location, thanks to the willingness of the longstanding local business to allow vendors to set up shop nearby. Then it all came down to securing vendors themselves, and Imagine Forestville helped do so by sponsoring the event so that vendors would not be charged a fee to sell their goods. That sponsorship remains in place more than a year later, as vendors are still welcomed free of charge.

The Forestville Farmers’ Market participates in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) which provides access to fresh produce that many residents would otherwise not be able to afford. Forestville became the fifth market in Chautauqua County to accept SNAP benefits when it opened on Main Street last year.

DeGolier noted a few patrons have utilized the SNAP benefits, but he was surprised that there have not been more to date. The majority of the customers of the Market are local to Forestville, but occasionally guests will stop by from out of town.

Linnea Haskin, Nutrition Resource Educator for the Cornell Cooperative Extension, said at the grand opening last year that 36% of Chautauqua County residents do not have access to fruits or vegetables, due to lack of grocery stores in smaller communities and inadequate means of transportation. The presence of farmers’ markets in communities throughout the county helps combat those issues.

The Forestville Farmers’ Market will run through September, weather permitting. It will close for the winter before likely returning next spring.