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ROYAL OAK — The Royal Oak Farmers Market is celebrating 100 years with events leading up to Oct. 14, its centennial anniversary date.
“It’s hard work, physical and mental. You’re juggling a lot of crazy situations and crazy hours, night and day,” market manager Shelly Mazur said. “But, I love the people. I love the work that is involved, and I love the farmers and the growers in general.”
The centennial festivities will begin 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 24 at the Royal Oak Farmers Market, 316 E. 11 Mile Road, during the Centennial Flower & Garden Day.
During the flower day, the market will be full of a variety of flowers, plants and garden essentials. Guests will also be able to enjoy live music, family-friendly activities, a petting farm and treats.
“We want to give back to the community,” Mazur said. “We want to have family fun events that include the whole family of all ages. We want to bring people together and support the local economy.”
The second event will include 100 vendors and a corn roast at the farmers market from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Aug. 9.
The event will include one of the biggest days of the year with 100 vendors selling fresh produce, handmade goods, specialty items, and antiques and collectibles. Corn on the cob will be available, and there will be entertainment during the event.
Christie Siegel, farmers market event planner, said that when planning these events, they wanted to spread them out over the year to highlight different seasons.
“Flowers are big in the spring, and then in August, it is corn season,” Siegel said. “We just tried to go off the theme of what’s in harvest.”
The final event, taking place Oct. 8, will be a harvest festival from 4 to 8 p.m. at the market.
The festival will include music, food and community fun, according to a press release from the Royal Oak Farmers Market. The event will also have produce selections, local vendors and a look into the market’s history.
Mazur has been a part of the Farmers Market since 2003, when she sold mushrooms; she then moved to the position of in-house event planner in 2007. Mazur became the market manager in 2011.
Mazur said that since she began as a mushroom vendor, she has seen significant growth within the market.
“I think there is a lot more variety now,” she said. “There is a lot more diversity in terms of what items are sold. There are more people who are more conscious, selling gluten-free and vegan and things like that — more health oriented items.”
The original Royal Oak Farmers Market opened on Oct. 14, 1925, and began as “a community farmers market to serve the produce needs of a growing town,” according to the Royal Oak Public Library’s website, ropl.org.
It started as an open-air market, according to Mazur. The farmers market building was built in early 1927.
“On its first day of business, more than 300 consumers purchased from 75 producers. Some family members from the original producer vendors still sell at the market,” it says at ropl.org/1397/About-Us.
Currently, about 20 farms, orchards and greenhouses sell their products at the Royal Oak Farmers Market with more than 60 specialty food vendors selling food that is made with local ingredients.
“It’s amazing how many people come up and tell me, ‘I came here when I was 7 years old with my grandmother,’ or ‘I came here with my family and we had a booth here 35-40 years ago,’” Mazur said. “We have a farmer here that has been here for 70 years.”
Mazur said that the market has continued to prosper thanks to the sense of pride and community the farmers have with each other.
“The belief in the commitment of what goes on here, and living off of the land and growing off of the land and supporting local vendors, I think it’s really just an amazing history of the memories that are involved, and that’s what we are putting together right now, and it’s just fascinating,” she said.
For more information on the Royal Oak Farmers Market, visit romi.gov/1533/Farmers-Market or email farmersmarket@romi.gov.
