The Friends of the Edmonton Downtown Farmers Market held their second AGM at the market building on Tuesday, September 7th. About a dozen people sat in socially distanced chairs, wearing masks, as Chair Jill Wright and Secretary Tom Boyce conducted the meeting.

The Friends’ aim is to support the market and its vendors as well as local food producers. Covid-19 has severely limited the Friends’ ability to set up programs. Even so, in the past year they have launched the Reading the Table book club (led by board member Virginia Durksen), applied for grants, and hosted a membership table at the market. They have also discussed ideas for tours of buildings and farms, long table feasts and fundraisers.

Dieter Kuhlmann, member of the market’s board of directors, spoke to the group about the market’s potential and challenges, and about his experiences as a long-time market vendor and head of the family business, Kuhlmann’s Greenhouse Garden Market. In addition to reporting on the market’s progress, Kuhlmann entertained his audience with quips about buying a suit for $30 in the Army and Navy, the store where the market is now located, and about how he kept his business afloat by telling his children, “You’re not going anywhere.”

For more information, visit the Friends Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/FEDFMS.