By Beth Sergent

For Mason County Extra Edition

POINT PLEASANT, W.Va. — Summer has officially arrived, both in spirit, and on the calendar, bringing with it new opportunities to purchase fresh produce and other unique items from local vendors at the Waterfront Farmers Market.

Hosted by the Main Street Point Pleasant organization, it’s located downtown, behind the historic Lowe Hotel and near the Fourth Street entrance to Riverfront Park. The market, which started in April, hosts vendors from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m., every Wednesday and Saturday, from April – October.

For now, the market is set up as a “pop up” (temporary canopies, etc.) until the permanent structure/pavilion can be built in that same location.

The pavilion, which will house the market, will be constructed utilizing a $470,000 grant allocated in last year’s Federal budget. The structure will extend south from the former Fisher Law building, which is also owned by Main Street Point Pleasant, and end near Fourth Street.

Rizer said it’s hoped construction on the new structure can begin late this summer, but, until then, this “pop up” version currently taking place in what will be the permanent location, will hopefully start to become familiar to both locals, and visitors to downtown Point Pleasant.  

The vision of the market is to be inclusive of vendors who are “local,” which is defined as being within a 50-mile radius, or from West Virginia. Rizer noted nearly a dozen vendors have already signed up and are participating in the market, including Jamestowne Dairy, Harper Farms, Hope’s Harvest Farm, and several area artisans and craftspeople.

One of those vendors is a familiar face to similar market sites like Raised Around Rio in Rio Grande, Ohio and the market at Central City in Huntington, W.Va.

Dan Foglesong of Foglesong Farms in Gallipolis Ferry, W.Va., was set up at Waterfront Farmers Market this past Wednesday, offering locally grown cucumbers, half runner green beans, green tomatoes, berries, herbs, brown eggs and other plants. He hopes to have corn in a couple weeks.

“It benefits everybody,” Foglesong said, when asked why the Waterfront Farmers Market, and similar venues, are important. “It benefits the farmer, helps him with some extra income. It’s fresh, good stuff.”

Underscoring just how fresh his offerings were, Foglesong explained the cucumbers he’d brought to market were picked by his wife Sharon the night before, as were the strawberries and blueberries (which sold out). The couple both picked the beans the morning prior, and Dan worked picking the green tomatoes before lunch, also the day before.  

As for what he feels is working about this phase of the market venture as it begins to take root downtown, Rizer said, “It’s nice having everything we need right here…we have our (Fisher) building that keeps all of our tents, our tables, we’ve got our sandbags and everything just right there handy… But, it’s going to be getting used to this area, getting people used to coming here. That way, when we start construction on the new building, everyone’s used to it and ready to go.”   

If interested in becoming a vendor, or to find the latest market news, check out its Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100090980535410 where you can also find a link to the market’s website, with additional vendor information.

© 2023, Mason County Extra Edition, all rights reserved.

Beth Sergent has nearly 20 years of experience in journalism, having worked as both a reporter and editor. She has a BLA in English from Marshall University, and a certificate in Technical Writing from Duke University. She is a lifelong resident of Mason County.

(Editor’s Note on accessibility: Mason County Extra Edition attempts to use accessible fonts and alternative text for photographs, to be inclusive of all readers.)