Sixteen years later she’s running the booth “Bowling’s Greene Thumb.”
“From 2009 until now, I’m a people person,” Greene said, “and I love the market.”
While reflecting on her time there, she brought up a story of her dad that he loved to tell before he died.
“He was eight years old. [It was] 1937 and his family came to Ohio from Kentucky, and they set up at the farmer’s market. Now I really don’t know exactly what all they sold, but he told me they sold live chickens,” Donnell said while chuckling. “... His job as an eight year old was to catch the ones that got away.”
Greene said she’s not only made loyal customers at the market but also friends. She added that she was worried about it for a while, but with Hamilton’s comeback, she’s hoping the market makes a great comeback as well.
Mary Donnell, manager of the Hamilton Historic Farmer’s Market for five years, said after researching she found a similar trend decade after decade: nobody knows Hamilton has a farmers market.
“We are so wanting to be there for the customers and not let this die,” Donnell said. “And every one of these articles I’ve read, it says the same thing over and over.”
One way she’s hoping to bring attention to the market is through the 150th anniversary events in early August.
For the scavenger hunt Donnell has planned, each of the vendors will have a clue that leads the patron to another vendor who then stamps a card. The winners will earn a prize.
Donnell also said there would be a poker run among the booths where participants will draw a card at each location with hopes of building the best five-card poker hand by the end of the route.
Nothing is without change, though
What is now the Hamilton Historic Farmer’s Market has gone by many different names through the years, including the Public Market and the Courthouse Market.
According to reporting done by the Journal News in 1999, “available evidence indicates that the tradition began before 1820, more than 179 years ago.”
The article further stated that the farmer’s market hasn’t always been located around the courthouse, instead, it could be found on the banks of the Great Miami River between present Market and Dayton Streets in 1817 as well as in the middle of High Street between Monument Avenue and Front Street in 1827.
In 1861 the market officially moved to Courthouse Square.
Also, in 1961, according to reporting by the Journal News, there was a rule that if a vendor dies, the booth has to shut down. One widower wanted to continue selling her goods, but was denied because the booth was in her husband’s name.
Not as long ago in 2014, when Donnell first started at the market, roughly 50 vendors wrapped around the square. Today, a total of 21 booths can be seen lined up on Saturday mornings.
While those changes are forgotten in the past by some, others hold on.
Walter Podmore, owner of the booth Simply Divine Creations, jokingly talked about how “unfortunately, the original people aren’t there anymore.”
“We did lose one a couple years ago who was coming there for over 70 years,” Podmore said. “But I would have liked to see it when it was in its heyday.”
Three years ago Donnell introduced Snap to the HHFM.
SNAP, or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, uses electronic benefits transfer (EBT), similar to a debit card, to pay for food using SNAP benefits, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The market also uses Produce Perks which “makes fruits and vegetables affordable for all by doubling the value of SNAP.”
According to its website, any amount spent with SNAP/EBT, up to $25 at farmers’ markets and $15 at grocery stores, will be matched $1-for-$1 to be spent on fruits and vegetables.
“That was a good thing for our community,” Donnell said. “And that’s what we’re here for, the community.”
This wouldn’t have been possible without the sponsorship from the Hamilton Community Foundation of $5,000, she added.
Nevertheless, the largest shift from even 10 years ago is the decreasing number of farmers participating in the market.
Podmore works at his art booth with his wife of two years Deborah Oelrich, who said the decline could be because of changing times or even shifting incomes.
Podmore first started at the market 13 years ago with his first wife who died. She made cards and he supplied the paintings.
“She enjoyed doing that for many years, and I painted for many years, but after a while, you run out of wall space,” Podmore said, “and relatives who want to get a painting for Christmas.”
Podmore and Oelrich aren’t the only retirees selling goods at the market.
Angie Gardner of Angie’s Homemade Crafts spends 25 hours of her week working on her knit and crochet goods.
Some of her most popular creations — cotton dish cloths and baby blankets — have earned her regular shoppers.
“I‘ve made a lot of friends up there with the other vendors,” Angie said about her 10 years as a vendor. “It’s just something that I really enjoy doing, and that’s why I’ve been doing it as long as I have.”
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