Vendors, backers like results, have big plans for next summer.
By Ryan Lengerich
rlengerich@news-sentinel.com
David Doud, a Wabash County farmer, sells his apples and cider at fresh markets in Roanoke and North Manchester.
This year, he took a chance and set up shop at the newly revived Barr Street Market in downtown Fort Wayne. He said he plans to return next year.
"The worst thing that ever happens at a market is you sit there and be bored, and that absolutely didn't happen," Doud said.
Andrew Thomas, with Young Leaders of Northeast Indiana, said the experiment to attract people downtown was a success, and said Young Leaders will brainstorm how to improve the market when it returns, likely in the spring.
Young Leaders is a volunteer group that formed in the spring and took the lead in organizing four Saturday markets, concluding last weekend. The group also has talked about eventually holding it year-round in some fashion.
"People were just happy to have a place to go," Thomas said. "I got this quote a lot of times: 'We need more things like this in Fort Wayne.'"
Thomas estimated some 400 shoppers turned out each week to buy wares from farmers and artists. Vendors included an organic farmer and a woman who did quick paintings of scenes from the market. A different local band performing each week completed the experience.
Thomas said Young Leaders did not profit from the venture. There was no vendor fee either -- though one may be instituted next year, with the fee money to be used to help publicize the market.
Young Leaders' other ideas for the future include staging a major athletic event -- such as a running or bike race -- and a music festival. Group members also have a keen interest in promoting the river area.
"It is a goal of ours to start working with the waterways a little bit," Thomas said.
On the Web
Learn more about Young Leaders of Northeast Indiana at www.ylni.com.
Reviving a market
Barr Street Market, which dates to the 1830s, was a downtown staple until it closed in 1957. It reopened on a smaller scale in the 1970s but never enjoyed the same prominence before closing. The land at Barr and Wayne streets, where the market was held, is owned by the Allen County/Fort Wayne Historical Society, which allowed Young Leaders of Northeast Indiana to revive it.