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Community Corner

Good Opening Day for Plainfield Farmers Market Customers, Vendors

Organizer Susan Bonstanche promises there will be 40-some stands every Saturday, and that they'll all be staying from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The fourth annual downtown opened for business Saturday on a beautiful sun-splashed morning, offering enough fruits, vegetables, herbs, spices, breads, flowers, bird houses and lawn ornaments to satisfy any local resident's desires.

It was a successful launch and one that market co-organizer Susan Bostanche said she hopes sends a strong message to all of their market patrons: “We’ll be here.”

“The big problem that I had last year was vendors leaving early,” said Bostanche, who is also the curator of downtown's Sunny Side of the Street Antiques. “That will kill this market faster than anything. So that’s why this year we’re saying to everyone, ‘You can’t leave early. We can’t leave until one o’clock.’”

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So rest assured, patrons, Bostanche and some 40 vendors, will be open at the corner of Route 59 and Lockport Street from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Saturday – rain or shine – waiting with open arms … and stands.

“Now that we’ve established that we’re here, it gets bigger and better every year,” Bostanche said.

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Shoomee’s Flowers curator Shoua Her said she's seen that growth, too.

“I enjoy coming back here every year. I’m from Plainfield, so I enjoy watching this market grow.”

With dozens of visitors streaming in-and-out, the 2011 market has started on a positive note despite ongoing road construction on Route 59.

“It’s good to see area farmers out here,” Romeoville resident Brian Runkel said. “It’s better to support local. We’ve seen larger markets, but this is nice.”

However, for one Plainfield resident, there could be improvements.

“Well, I would like to see more food vendors,” Joyce Saar said, “but there are more places now than in the past. So I hope they continue to come in, because in a farmers market well, I would like to see … food.”

The market left a favorable first impression for new Plainfield residents Heather Banks and her daughter Josey.

“So far, so good,” Banks said. “We love farmers markets.”

A hot spot for visitors, the soon-to-be named fruit and vegetable stand next to the colorful offerings of Star Spangled Sales, attracted many customers, much to the delight of vendor Brandan Graves.

“From previous years, this is really, really good,” Graves said. “I’m really impressed on how they’ve got so many more vendors. Just the amount of people here on the first day, I’m pretty impressed with what they’re doing.”

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