Galesburg Reporter

The Galesburg Farmers Market opened for the first time this month since the COVID-19 pandemic has taken over and brought a new sense of normalcy back into the area. 

With the market open for the first time in 2020 on May 16, new rules were put into place to allow the elderly and immunocompromised in early to avoid the potential spread of the coronavirus.

Several vendors did not show up at the market and others stood within a safe distance of each other to help prevent the spread of the virus, the Review Atlas reported. Some of the vendors had sold out early and packed up and left before the event ended. Regardless, several people from all over came to the market to shop for vegetables, locally raised meats, honey and more.

With the global pandemic still ongoing, almost all attendees, shoppers and vendors wore face masks, the paper reported. So while the farmers market brought back a sense of normalcy, it was far from it. At every table there was a set of rules explaining what shoppers had to follow. Chalk was all over the ground marking safe distances between vendors, and the Review Atlas reported there was also an overabundance of hand sanitizer in sight.

One of the vendors stood out from others in sales. Hilary Anderson of Dovetail Rivet and Stitch had created several cloth face masks and kits to make your own homemade hand sanitizer. Anderson had mentioned that while her shop is ordered closed, she focuses on online sales, which allows her to continue with an income.

Karen Simpson of Galesburg was out at the local farmers market and chose a homemade cloth mask from Anderson's booth. “I’ve been waiting for this since it was announced on Facebook,” Simpson told the Review Atlas, “I just wanted to be out.”

Mayor John Pritchard came to shop at the local farmers market as well, the Review Atlas reported. While he shopped for locally produced honey, he also commented on the pandemic and the changes that need to be made upon opening the community.

“I think we should be reopening carefully," he told the Review Atlas. "The virus itself isn’t going away. A vaccine isn’t made yet. For a while we will be practicing social distancing, people will have to be cautious.”