We placed out of the money but in the top ten in Evanston realtor Jackie Mack's Commission Mission Award. Hundreds of you voted and thanks so much for your support. We got some good publicity and found ourselves in some great company.

What follows is one last rather long rundown of the possible relocation of the farmers market. We want there to be a broad awareness of the discussions and the potential for change in market management and location. Now's the time for vendors and shoppers to know what's been proposed, so they can insist on a role in making those decisions.

Next week, we'll have news about the Thanksgiving market and possibly beyond. And otherwise, I promise the silliest newsletter I can manage. You deserve a break. After the next story, I hope.

700 people filled out our shopper survey at last week’s market, and we hope more folks will at tomorrow’s market. Like our survey to the vendors, we aren’t asking for opinions about moving the market to Fountain Square. We’re asking what’s important for shoppers at any farmers market: parking, variety and number of vendors, layout, hours, and support for Link.

Friends’ purpose is gathering information, and then sharing it with everyone who has an interest in our farmers market. Our first survey, and a collection of comments from readers and market shoppers was delivered in person to Mayor Biss, among other folks. At the moment, Friends isn't trying to persuade anyone; Friends' intention is to inform everyone.

That intention got a little muddled at last week's market. The couple of signs about the survey included the phrase, “Don’t let them move our market.” That is not Friends’ position, as we’ve stressed many times.

Had those signs read, “DON’T LET THEM MOVE OUR MARKET UNLESS THE PROPERTY BECOMES UNAVAILABLE, AND ONLY IF THE PROCESS IS TRANSPARENT AND INCLUDES EVANSTON CITIZENS AND THE TEAM THAT SUCCESSFULLY RUNS THE MARKET NOW,” we would have needed a much longer sign, but that would have reflected what we’re really about.

The result has been a general concern about how imminent moving the market might be. To answer that question, let's look at the public record, and see what's been discussed and what's been decided. Then you'll know what we know.

Erika Storlie is Evanston's City Manager

Paul Zalmezak is Evanston’s Economic Development Manager.

Annie Coakley is the Executive Director of Downtown Evanston.

So the City Manager and The Economic Development Manager presented an opportunity to take over management of the Farmers Market to Downtown Evanston. The Executive Director of Downtown Evanston added the notion of moving the market to Fountain Square.

From this presentation, we move to the next meeting of the Evanston Economic Development Committee.

Recommended Action: Staff recommends Economic Development Committee discuss contracting with Downtown Evanston for the management of the Farmer's Market.

Council Action: For Discussion

Summary: Staff is seeking input from the Economic Development Committee about a proposal to consider transferring management of the Evanston Farmers Market to Downtown Evanston.

“Mr. Zalmezak said [the Farmers Market] would likely operate in current location for at least another season or two. It would take some time to transition and plan.”

To summarize, the city presented Downtown Evanston with the opportunity to manage the market. They did not demur, and DTE's Executive Director suggested the actual moving of the market. The idea was then presented to the EDC in the form of a memorandum.

The memorandum outlines the benefits that might accrue. In the EDC meeting itself, aldermen and staff speculated about more potential benefits. There wasn't any supporting data presented along with these ideas. They mention "...there would need to be a year of transition to meet with current staff and farmers," and one alderman, "...suggested talking with farmers to get their feedback."

There has as yet been no meeting with current staff or farmers, and no feedback sought. There's no firm timeline, so there's nothing wrong with that. But in the apparent absence of any research, Friends reached out to our vendors and gathered a lot of data. We reached out to you folks in this newsletter and collected a lot of opinions. Our shopper survey is gathering more data AND more opinions. Bottom line--after the reporting in February, this initiative was completely under the radar. Friends felt that shoppers and vendors should know about it, and that the city should know what those groups felt about the possibility.

If the EDC and DTE choose to move forward with planning, they'll have access to our collected information and your opinions. We'll make sure they do. We'll keep our eyes and ears open for you as well.

And until there's something new to report, this story is our last word. Bless you if you've read this far. Here are the links to the documents used in writing this novel.

It seems inevitable that Friends will have to supplant our current level of support for the Link match with some of the funds allocated for next season's match program. We are hoping that your generosity will minimize the impact of this season's needs so that we can continue to support all the families and individuals who depend on Link at the farmers market.

Click the JUST25+ logo above to donate right now, and click here if you would just like to know a little more about SNAP, Link, and what Friends does to support them.

If you need the details of place, time, and the guidelines under which the market is run, we've updated the information all over our website to reflect the details of this year's market. Click here to visit the update page, From there, you'll can visit other pages on the site for everything you need to know about the market.

We do our best to keep the info in this newsletter and on our website up-to-date. You can also keep up with info direct from the source by liking the Evanston Markets Facebook Page. or by visiting the city's farmers market page. For information provided on our own website, click here.