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08/14/2024 08:30 AMThe seemingly instant success of this summer’s brand-new Stony Creek Farmers Market is actually the result of the extensive effort and legwork—and a lot of hope for building community—imparted by its founder, Clara Pagliaro.
Since the first Sunday in June, the popular outdoor attraction has been drawing delighted fans to Bayview Park in Stony Creek every week to peruse the goods offered by local vendors and those from around Connecticut.
Between 15 to 20 different purveyors set up shop each Sunday to offer the likes of organic produce, artisanal goods, ferments, sourdough bread, cultivated mushrooms, baked goods, meats and cheeses, infused lemonades, and more. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the roadside park on Thimble Island Road comes alive with vendors, shoppers, strollers, and live music performances by local musicians (who volunteer to play). The market also offers free, family friendly crafts once a month. Stony Creek Farmers Market will be open every Sunday through October 27.
While it was a lot of work to pull it all together, Clara knew she had a great idea which would be a great fit for Stony Creek, as well as for supporting small farms, small business owners, and other vendors.
“I’ve worked farmer’s markets as a vendor for past jobs, and I really just loved the environment and how I started building relationships with people there. It just felt like such a way to get to know the community,” says Clara.
However, standing up a farmer’s market was a first for Clara.
“This is all a new experience for me. I’m learning as I go,” she says.
Last year, Clara began planting the seeds for her idea by working her way through many different entities for the needed approvals, permits, and other requirements to be met. She worked with organizations including the Stony Creek Association, the Town of Branford, Branford Parks and Recreation, the East Shore District Health Department, and the Connecticut Department of Agriculture.
“It was a nine-month project, kind of like a birthing experience! But it felt so supported,” says Clara.
Along the way, Clara addressed issues which her Stony Creek neighbors might have had with the concept, including parking and other potential concerns.
“It was received really well, and the majority of the association was totally on board for it. I’m third generation in the Creek, and a lot of the elders know my parents and my grandparents, so they were just like, ‘Go for it,’” says Clara.
In another show of support underscoring Clara’s hope to help out in her community, she was recently elected to be a member of the board of the Stony Creek Association. She also recently became a member of the Branford Land Trust and is looking forward to providing volunteer assistance to help organize its 2025 lecture series.
After spending some time working and living out of town, including great work-exchange experiences across Europe with World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (also known as “WWOOFing”), Clara came home to reside in Stony Creek about five years ago. At that point, she began to actively get involved in her community.
“I was forming relationships with neighbors and had this deep desire to get to know who I was living around and just build those relationships,” says Clara. “I realized it was the perfect place for a farmers market, and I thought, ‘Why don’t we already have one?’”
Once she received approval to bring in the market, Clara reached out to about 100 vendor contacts which she had cultivated. Vendors signed on to participate weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. The market always has produce vendors on-site weekly, offering freshly grown seasonal produce.
“I reached out to farmers, bakers, small businesses, and some found me by putting ourselves out there on Instagram and Facebook,” says Clara, who also manages the market’s social media.
To help give them the best opportunity to succeed with selling their goods, vendors pay just $15 for their space on market day. The fee helps Clara to pay for any required materials or services needed to run the market.
“I just want people to see this as an opportunity to come and support the vendors and to feel supported and let this be a relationship that really can grow our community,” Clara says. “The way the world is now, it feels so important to come closer together and to recognize that this is something that is so invaluable and that we need each other. That’s a really big part of it for me.”
From the very first day it opened, the Stony Creek Farmers Market has shown that it is succeeding in bringing folks together for a friendly community event.
“The opening day was kind of like a festival. There were about 500 people who came,” says Clara.
Since then, “... we’ve had with a lot of returning customers who are building relationships with our vendors,” she says. “That’s what I’m seeing, and that’s the feedback I’m getting from our vendors, too.”
Clara adds that making the Stony Creek Farmers Market a place for community-building is what it’s all about.
“You’ll see kids playing, you’ll see people bumping into one another and catching up or getting to know each other for the first time. To see that intention is just amazing,” Clara says.
A 2015 Branford High School graduate, Clara says that she wants to continue to support the notion of building community in the world.
“I have visions of creating spaces where community can come together. That feels like a purpose of my existence,” says Clara.
For more information, follow the Stony Creek Farmers Market on Instagram and Facebook @stonycreekfarmersmarket.