Tift Park Community Market to re-open starting March 7

ALBANY — Here’s how Stephen Brimberry describes the first go-‘round of the Friends of Tift Park’s Tift Park Community Market, which kicked off July 19 of last year and continued until the weather turned cold — 99 percent positive feedback, no incidents, no vandalism, no reports of anything being taken and very few glitches.

So, of course, as Brimberry and supporters of the downtown Albany park prepare to reboot the Saturday gatherings on March 7 to coincide with the city’s Snickers Marathon/Mardi Gras celebration they have a simple goal: They’re going after that 1 percent.

“We learned a lot from doing the market last year,” Brimberry said Friday. “We learned about USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) requirements, what kinds of products you have to have a license to sell, what kind of paperwork is required.

“We had our minor glitches, but now we know how to deal with them.”

Produce vendors won’t be a part of the Community Market until crops start coming in, most likely in April, but Brimberry said there is growing excitement among the artisans and craftsmen who want to offer their wares when the market kicks off its second season.

“It’s been pretty amazing, the number of arts and crafts people who say they’re coming,” the Friends of Tift Park organizer said.

Brimberry shakes his head in wonder as he talks about the successful opening of the market.

“We were hoping for and expecting around 20 vendors,” he said. “We had 75 when we started and maintained 50-plus every week after. I credit Tift Park itself, the area, the history. I had people tell me (coming to the market) was the first time they’d been in Tift Park in 40 years. Other people planned birthday parties and kids’ play dates.

“I think one of the coolest things for me was that a lot of people brought children to the park who had never been here before. They’re building memories like the ones I had when I came to the zoo here as a kid.”

Brimberry said kicking off the second year of the Community Market to coincide with the city of Albany’s marathon/Mardi Gras celebration is a natural.

“We’re going to open the park that first Saturday with a Mardi Gras theme,” he said. “It’s an opportunity for us to tap into the 20,000 people who will be in town for the celebration.”

In collaboration with the Community Market, Friends of Tift Park cleaned signs around the park, used donations from Lowe’s and volunteer labor to refurbish the park gazebo, enticed the city to finish the sidewalk adjacent to the park and made improvements that re-established the all-but-forgotten greenspace as a recreational destination. Next on the Friends’ to-do list is to acquire lighting and add a gazebo in the eastern portion of the park.

“The city of Albany has been wonderful, has worked with us to make the Community Market happen,” Brimberry said. “And we’ve used donations by businesses, vendors and individuals to make other improvements. That’s the whole idea behind the Community Market, to bring people back to the park and to make as many improvements as we can.

“The Dougherty High School drama department wants to have Shakespeare in the Park this year; our Doggie Days were successful, so we’ll do that again, and we’ll have exhibits from Chehaw and the “booth for a cause” to help nonprofits. One of the criticisms we heard from some last year was that we were trying to ‘run everything.’ That’s the opposite of what we want. We want the vendors to be more involved. This is for them, and it’s for the community.”

The March 7 kickoff of the Community Market will start at 9 a.m. and continue until 2 p.m. For information or to register a vendor booth, go online to www.tiftparkcommunitymarket.com.