Alexandria Farmers Market

Spring of 2020 has proven to be a challenge for our Community, Province and Country! The Covid-19 pandemic has proven to be a game-changer for all communities and businesses across Canada. And, it is obvious that it is Not "Business-as-Usual" this year. The Management staff of the Alexandria Farmers Market has been diligent in pursuing all possible options that would allow us to open our market to the community for the 2020 season. We, and all our familiar and new vendors, ha...ve been anxious to Start the new season! But..... We have not been able to overcome all of the restrictions that have been placed in front of us that would allow us to operate the Market this year. Therefore, it is with sadness that we must announce that the ALEXANDRIA FARMERS MARKET will NOT open this year! All our vendors are individually pursuing new ways of making their food products available to our community; please keep an eye open for them! and help support them! We have always been grateful for the support from our customers and community. Remember to continue to support all of our community's businesses and food producers! Buy Local! Eat Local! Celebrate Locally! Stay safe! Eat well! Smell the roses and everything else! Don't forget to smile! This too will pass! Thank you! We will see you all next year! Stephen Burgess, Manager, Alexandria Farmers Market

Last night the North Glengarry community gathered at a Town Hall Meeting to discuss public school boundaries and the value of ensuring children can be educated ...in their home community. This is an all too familiar theme for us in South Stormont, as well as those of us in all Counties of SDG, as it is something that we had to fight for during the last pupil accommodation review in 2016 and something that I have been personally advocating for for 16 years. One of the most poignant moments, was to hear from two students, Ava and Zoe speak of their concern and stress of receiving letters from STEO being told that their boundary is changing and that they will not be able to attend the secondary school they want to attend and have always planned to attend. The young ladies eloquently spoke of their deep roots in their community and school, of their desire to stay in their home community and that bigger is not always better or effective when it comes to education. For Paul and I, this was an especially emotional moment as these young ladies articulated the very same words our own R-O students voiced not so long ago, all I could think of as they spoke was, we can't allow this to happen AGAIN! Other speakers articulated the need for change and collaboration between school boards, the impact of the UCDSB not offering French in all elementary schools, the failure of busing consortiums and the effect on students. They spoke of the environmental impact of busing students out of their community, the need to get serious about creating efficiencies, and our region's desire to protect rural education. I am very cautious when I hear the Chair of the UCDSB state that there are "no school closures on the horizon". In 2008 after a very long PAR "Boundary 2020", much of the South Stormont community felt safe of school closures; however, between that time and the next PAR, we saw boundary changes, alignment changes, these in turn created a decrease in staff, which grew to a decrease in programming which caused a further erosion of school enrollment and sadly we all know what happened next. I commend the North Glengarry Community, Council and the SOS Group for their hard work in educating their community and advocating for a boundary review. It was great to see so much support from other neighbouring municipalities and many of the strong voices from the last PAR (MacDonald, Manley, Filion, Jaworski, Gardner). We continue, as we did in 2016 to work together and advocate for our students in all of SDG. I am pleased to say that under Warden Jamie MacDonald's leadership, The SDG County Council has made rural education a top priority in their strategic plan. It is our duty to continue to protect rural education, to advocate for our children's right to be educated in their home community and to have a strong voice going forward regarding the changes and challenges in education.

I apologize for this late posting! The Alexandria Farmers Market has closed for the year and will not be open this Saturday, October 26, 2019. The market was a great success this year, with several new vendors and new products that were well received by our clients. I want to thank all the vendors for working together to support the market and for bringing forward quality foods and products for our customers! I also want to thank GDHS for hosting and allowing our Market to be... showcased on their property! It is a dream location! And, we want to thank all our customers for their patronage of the AFM! Without you it couldn’t be! We are already discussing improvements that we can make for next year to improve your shopping experience. As these upgrades are decided we will be informing you of them. If you have any suggestions that you think would be beneficial for the Market please contact us; we want to continually grow and improve the market! Once again! Thank You for supporting the Alexandria Farmers Market! Eat well! Buy local! Support all our local farmers and businesses! Remember to SMILE, LAUGH and say Hi! every day!!! We look forward to seeing all of you in 2020! We couldn’t be successful without your support! Stephen Burgess, Manager, AFM

https://www.cbc.ca//ontario-strawberries-rebound-after-a-c

The more you know......:-)

Great article on The Glengarry Market. Many of our vendors will have their products available there - so please, check them out Their hours of operation are: Monday and Tuesday, from 11 to 2 p.m.; Thursday and Friday, from 11 to 4 p.m. and Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m. ... The shop is closed Wednesdays and Sundays. https://thereview.ca//16/glengarry-market-opens-for-busin/ https://m.facebook.com/theglengarrymarket/

TIP: Buy local strawberries when in season; wash and remove hulls. Freeze in single layer on baking sheet; transfer to freezer bags and store in the freezer until ready to use.... Pick up your local, fresh strawberries this Saturday at the Alexandria Farmers Market between 8:30am-1:00pm. Located at 212 Main St N, Alexandria, ON. #ontariofresh #goodthingsgrowinontario #ontariofarmersmarkets #alexandriaontario