You don't have to sell produce to have a booth at the Downtown Farmers Marketplace. Sellers are offering not only fresh vegetables, but also fresh meat and honey.
"It's professionally run, the response is really great," says lamb vendor Larry Gardner. "This is where the people are, you want to be where the people are."
"It's been much needed in the area," says vendor Lori McDole. "We've grown every week. There's new vendors every week."
So many new vendors, that the market has a happy problem: it's running out of space for them. Furthermore, those vendors are increasingly coming from outside the immediate area. One of them has an idea.
"If they closed this in and put a heater here, I think this would go all winter, even in snow," says Shade, Ohio vendor Derek Brickles, who has had space at the Athens Farmers Market. "I have a picture where our farmers market got an inch and a half of snow."
The Parkersburg market is now slated to run into fall. But there's a chance it may, to attract even more customers, open a bit earlier.
"I think the vendors are discussing opening a little earlier and maybe closing a little earlier," says Keith Burdette, President of the Wood County Development Authority, "because there's actually crowds here before 11:00, but they kind of dissipate before 4:00. We're going to meet with the vendors Friday morning and talk about that, and make some decisions from there."
The plan now would be to have the market open an hour earlier.
If you haven't been there yet, it's currently open from 11 A.M. to 6 P.M. each Thursday and Friday, and it's located across from the Judge Black County Annex on Market Street.