ELK POINT – Elk Point’s first approved farmers market opened its doors at the Allied Arts and Leisure Centre on Thursday, with over 40 tables offering a wide range of products to an eager crowd.
The Allied Arts “needed something more to do here,” president Don Conrad said, and with no farmers market in the area since the United Church held a private version many years ago, this was a logical choice. Conrad credited the Province of Alberta’s Farmers Market Specialist Eileen Kotowich and the late Lillian Pilipchuk, who ran the market’s St. Paul counterpart until her recent passing in a vehicle crash, with providing the necessary information to spearhead the process of making the market a reality.
“This is not just for a week, or a month – we hope to keep this going for years,” he added.
One important factor in the planning was finding a manager to get the market underway, “and we hit the jackpot. RubyAnn Kittlitz is a fantastic manager and she’s the one that did it.” Changing a popular saying, he said that “behind every successful woman, is a strong man, and Lavern Kittlitz is just that,” noting that Lavern has been extremely helpful in various aspects of the planning and carrying out the preparations for the market’s opening, both he and RubyAnn taking part in the official opening ceremony along with Mayor Parrish Tung and Deputy Mayor Wanda Cochrane.
Elk Point Allied Arts Farmers Market, which also has a small flea market component, will be open each Thursday from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m., with the final 2023 market held on Dec. 21. The market will be closed during January, February and March and will reopen in April 2024.