Week 01 of the 2020 Season

THU JUN 04—Opening Day

Our Response to the Pandemic

Burlington County and the Township of Mount Holly have approved our plan for a walking Farmers’ Market with a few reasonable accommodations to public health and safety.

• Maintain adequate space between vendors and enforce 6-foot social distancing between customers and vendors
• Assure smooth traffic flow
• Face coverings for vendors and customers; gloves for vendors handling food
• Hand sanitization available for all
• No customers or vendors experiencing COVID-19 symptoms
• No eating on site. No sitting/eating areas that would encourage lingering.
• Prepared food will be packaged, not intended for on-site consumption
• Pre-pay or electronic payment whenever possible
• Signs posted to encourage rule compliance

Additional Measures

Beyond what the county and township require, the Market will implement additional policies to reduce food contamination and the handling of products and cash.

• Food will be displayed on tables, clearly marked, and priced in even dollar amounts to speed ordering and eliminate the need to make change.

• A Cash Table at the entrance will dispense zip-lock bags containing single dollar bills in quantities of $5, $10, and $20 to reduce the need to make change.

• I haven’t found one perfect picture yet of how food should be arranged on tables, but I’ve gathered several examples.

• Work to provide a setup with containers representing the amount of produce that can be sold in a flat-dollar amount, presented as “samples.”
• Dispensing of actual product takes place behind the table, or from your truck. The samples remain on the table.

Regarding Money

If you’re careful about how you handle transactions, we DO NOT NEED an extra person at every table just for money. One farm staff should be able to handle both food and cash.

• David will bring enough small change so that HE can break large bills for customers BEFORE THEY SHOP.

• If you price your products in flat-dollar amounts, customers will be able to give you exact change, eliminating the need for money to pass from your hands to theirs.

• Consider allowing customers to place their exact change payments into a box.
• Some vendors, such as the meat purveyors, for whom flat-dollar pricing is impossible, don’t actually handle the food anyway. Everything is vacuum-packaged, so they can safely handle food, making change, and credit cards.

Weather Policy

In the Music Tent

In keeping with the prohibition against “lingering,” we will, sadly, not have live music at the Market when we open in June. But of course we will be delighted to welcome back our favorite musicians from last year (and stay on the lookout for new talent) as soon as we’re able.

Load In

FOR OPENING DAY, PLEASE ARRIVE BETWEEN 1PM AND 1:30PM.
We need to close the Market to Vehicle Traffic
before the entrance opens at 3pm.

The good news is, this year we have plenty of space in the parking lot for our own vendor vehicles, so EVERYONE can drive in and leave trucks, vans, trailers in your own retail space!

Click here for driving directions.

Google Map link to 23 Washington Street.

This is the Municipal Building / Police Station at 23 Washington Street.
The Market sets up in the Parking Lot behind this building.

Contracts and Fees

Those of you who have not submitted your Application/Contract paperwork need to comply to remain active at the Market and to take advantage of the Fee Rebate Program.

Download the Application from the Mount Holly Contracts link at the top of this website. Complete the app in Word, in PDF, or on paper, and send it to Sean Kennedy, whose name and address are on the first page of the contract package.

FEE REBATE PROGRAM

Prepay your dates to qualify for Fee Rebates. Earn a full 100% rebate for table fees for every Market you attend. Prepay for 10 dates (for example), attend those 10 dates, and you’ll be refunded 100% of your fees at the end of the season.

DAY PAY VENDORS

Afraid of commitment? You can pay on Market day. The Market Director will have receipts for day-pay vendors who prefer the flexibility of paying when they attend, but no rebates can be earned without prepaid dates.

Facebook Promotion

We were very visible on Facebook last week. Not so much this week. If anybody wants to help keep us in front of the local shopping public, let David know you want to lend a hand. Click the link to see what we’ve been up to.

Website

The Township  produced a sharp-looking website for our shoppers who think facebook is evil.

http://www.MountHollyNJFarmersMarket.com 

Let David know if you want to be on the Featured Vendors’ list for THU JUL 18. We welcome all our vendors to provide us with information about their farms and foods. Shoppers appreciate knowing more about you.

Future Updates

Check back in to this space often. You don’t need to follow a link. Just navigate to http://www.FarmMarketeer.com 

• This season in particular will be ALL ABOUT small bills.
• I will have a healthy supply at the beginning of the Market . . . BUT NOT FOR YOU!
• I will break down customer bills into singles so they can give you exact change. 
• That way, ALL CASH WILL TRAVEL IN ONE DIRECTION!
• (You can hold that money in a bank bag for a couple days if it makes you feel safer.)

Flexible Site Plan

Changes will continue to occur throughout the season as vendors come and go and as we learn more about how neighbors interact. I remind you no spaces are ever guaranteed and require your cooperation if I have to move your location any given week.

THANK YOU
David Hodges, Market Director
Home Office (856) 854-8385
Market Day Cell Phone (856) 979-6653

mthollymarket@davidhodges.com