PEORIA MAGAZINE May 2022

First, it had been seven years since the Heights had last hosted a market, that one at Heritage Square. “I’m like, ‘It’s time. Let’s bring it back,’” said Bielfeldt. But did the interest and energy exist among others to do that? Village leadership was enthusiastic about the idea, offered its full cooperation, and effectively answered the question. Second, they needed a location. Bielfeldt believed the “perfect” spot was the parking lot at the Pabst facility. She made her pitch and found a receptive audience in KDB Group CEO Greg Birkland, the building’s owner, who made the property available. Finally, they didn’t want to compete with other farmers markets, so they called upon other local organizers to see if conflicts could be avoided. Junction City agreed tomove its event to Tuesdays, with Keller Station on Wednesday, the Heights on Thursdays, and Peoria’s RiverFront Market on Saturdays.

“Now you can buy fresh, buy local throughout the entire week,” said Bielfeldt, who didn’t have to be sold on the value of that. She likened it to “a string of pearls.” Indeed, when you factor in the distance most food travels before it ends up on a grocery store shelf and ultimately on a plate at home – it tends to be about 1,500miles in theUnited States — the nutrition loss as a result, the supply chain snarls that have exacerbated all of that, it made Bielfeldt wonder why there aren’t more farmers markets. “Living in theMidwest, we are so close to our food source,” she said. “We are sitting in the best spot in the country.” Meanwhile, the opportunity to pro mote community, socialization, the out doorsmade thewhole thing a no-brainer, she and Hutchison said. “There’s an intimacy to a farmers market,” said Bielfeldt. “It’s about relationships. Everybody’s got each other’s back. That’s community to me.

The Heights has had its successes. We just want to build on that. “Hopefully, people will stay and enjoy the Village. They’ll walk around and eat and shop … The Village is not franchise row. We areMom& Pop shops. I want to be very respectful of what we have here.” “That’s what it’s all about, supporting each other,” said Hutchison. While a number of vendors already have signed on, theHeights is looking for high-quality, non-duplicative operations. “It’s more important to us to have local, homemade, handmade,” saidHutchison. The cost to reserve a full-season spot is $150, for a single market $10. “No pun intended, there has been an organic nature to pulling this together. It has just been a pleasure,” added Bielfeldt. “There are some things that just seem right, and this is one of them.”

Mike Bailey is editor in chief of Peoria Magazine

MAY 2022 P EORIA MAGAZINE 23