WESTBOROUGH – It’s been a couple of months since the Westborough Farmers’ Market moved to its new home at Congregation B’nai Shalom on East Main Street.
“It’s been great,” said market manager Jeanette McCarthy of the move. “They [B’nai] have been a really wonderful partner.”
Rotary takes over the Westborough Farmers’ Market
For years, the farmers’ market had been located at the Congregational Church and was organized by Dismas House.
According to McCarthy, the group didn’t run the market in 2020 because of COVID-19. In early 2021, Dismas announced that they didn’t intend to pick the market back up. The Westborough Rotary Club stepped in, saving the market.
“It was a hard season last year because we were so late to taking it on,” McCarthy said.
Farms specifically have their harvest and market schedule set well in advance. For the rotary club to begin to look for farms and vendors to be able to open in June is tricky, McCarthy said.
She called that first season a learning curve.
According to McCarthy, the original reason why the club wanted to move the location of the market was out of concern for pedestrian safety and a need for parking.
Plus, the church has a smaller lawn that resulted in what McCarthy called a tricky layout for the market.
The Rotary Club head reached out to several locations in Westborough. However, McCarthy said as soon as they connected with B’nai’s Executive Director Steve Winer, he was very interested in making it happen.
“We thought the location was great because it’s on a highly-trafficked road,” she said. “So we thought for visibility it was better for our vendors. The parking situation is amazing – so much more parking.”
Ultimately, McCarthy said the move has allowed for more vendors.
There’s an average of 25 vendors at the Westborough Farmers’ Market.
“It’s a good way to get to know all of these local businesses in a convenient way and support the community,” McCarthy said.
One of the booths at the Westborough Farmers’ Market on Sept. 1 was run by Swanski’s Bakeshop.
“We’re just a small, twowomen owned and operated business just trying to bring our handmade goodies to Westborough,” said Em Swanski.
Swanski’s was serving breads, bagels, scones and biscuits, and Swanski noted that their flavors frequently change.
Swanski’s has a physical location at 72 East Main Street in Westborough, which is currently closed for renovations. Swanski was hoping that they would reopen in October.
In the meantime, Swanski’s has been operating full-time at farmers’ markets while their store is being renovated.
Last year, two of their customers came into their store and said they should be part of the Westborough market. This year, Swanski’s began putting feelers out for markets and got in contact with McCarthy.
“Obviously, being that Westborough is our hometown, of course this is our most important market for us,” Swanski said. “But not only that, it’s [the market] become a whole other thing this year. … This location gives us so much more visibility. We have great lawn space where we can all be together.”
There will be a fall-themed market on Sept. 22, which is the first day of fall.
The Westborough Farmers’ Market will run through Oct. 20. For more information, visit https://www.westboroughrotary.org/page/farmers-market.
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