Pioneer Women At Aurora Farmers Market

Anna Lozyk Romeo — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 04:01:30 +0000

A senior lady came to the Pioneer booth and told Katherine Belrose – ‘Oh, my mother used to have one of those‘. She pointed out in the direction of the spinning wheel and a woman spinning the woolen yarn.

Spinning Wheel

It looks like the pioneer presentation at the Aurora Farmers Market brought lot of good memories to many who visited the pioneer booth.

Butter Making

I grew up in a small town myself. A small town dating from 14th century with about 3000 people. Therefore, going from making a butter with a dash butter churn, cleaning carpets with a carpet beater, making own cheese, washing clothes using the washboard and to sit in front of the computer and blog today – I think I have seen enough of technological advancements in just 35 years. Such practices were very common in our family when I was growing up.

Washboard

‘If we treasure our own experience and regard it as real, we must also treasure other people’s experience.’ – A quote by John Charles Polanyi

I have seen a spinning wheel many times, but that was regional. Mostly those who lived in the mountains and had sheep farms were spinning the wool yarns. In our area we had flax farms to make linen and flax seeds and by the time I was born our town already had the linen processing factory.

The Pioneer Women

At some point I found myself mesmerized in Katherine’s booth and I was capturing moments that once were reality in my life – the butter, the washboard. Now, may be some can see why I treasure the Petch house so much.

More pictures, just click on any image and keep clicking.

Aurora Farmers Market, In The Past It Was Old Post Office & General Store

Anna Lozyk Romeo — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 04:09:13 +0000

The Aurora Farmers Market is definitely not just a place to buy local but also it is a gathering place ‘Your Meeting Place In Aurora‘. Another place to buy, but there is more. A place where we meet others. A place where children have fun. A place where we escape.

It is so typical these days in Aurora to say I will be at the Farmers Market or I meet you at the market. ‘I hope we get a chance to meet up one day, maybe over a coffee at the market‘, once Matt Maddocks wrote me, and I hope so too.

I don’t know many people, but I know Katherine Belrose (Friends of Petch House) very well and we always got to chat on the market. Her Pioneer booth was exciting one last Saturday, and was well aligned with the Senior’s Day.

Now, where else would you meet, it is so simple, and most of us know the way to the market on Saturday morning. And if you don’t know where it is, on Saturday all signs lead to the Aurora Farmers Market.

Our Farmers Market definitely has a social component built in. It is really nice to see people chatting with each other. Vendors shop among themselves. People buy with enthusiasm. Re-usable bags are being filled to the top.

I great place for children to get out, visit the playground, cool off at the splash pad and then head out for a nice cookie or pop-corn treats, or even have full lunch.

On August 13th the market had a very busy day. It was Senior’s Day, a very eventful as you will see in my later post. Busy shoppers buying a lot of good healthy food, fruits and vegetables especially this time of the year at the peak of the farmer’s harvest. It is easy to capture the essence of the market with my camera, but this time it was in the air. A strong aroma of fresh veggies and herbs traveled throughout.

Aurora Farmers Market started in 2003. In the past it was the Old Post Office gathering:

‘From its opening on November 24, 1915 until its closure in 1967, the old Post Office played an important role as a focal point of activity in the life of Aurora. The central platform for mail deposit was a convenient stage for citizens to express their opinions on matters of local concern. Before the advent of home delivery, collecting the mail was an opportunity for neighbours to socialize. Its clock has chimed the hours for generations of Aurora citizens.‘ Source: Town of Aurora Website.

‘The Post Office officially opened on November 24, 1915. The building soon became an important place for people to gather and spend time with their neighbours and colleagues. The letter drop, located in the middle of the building, was often used as a platform for speakers. The welcoming addresses for soldiers returning from the First and Second World Wars were made from this platform. The chimes of the tower clock announced the time for the community then as it does today.‘ Source: Town of Aurora Website.

Nothing lasts forever. Times change. The General Store was once a gathering place too:

‘In 1951, the general store operated by Mr. Larry Rubin and his brother Lou became the Aurora I.G.A. Foodliner, a supermarket. There were incentives to visit the store: special prices, door prices and a draw for twenty-five dollars. The store had everything except a meat department, but that was soon added. Aurora then had one stop food shopping on Wellington Street East. This was convenient, but it did cut down on meandering, shopping and socializing along the town’s shopping district.‘ Source: ‘Aurora 1945-1965, An Ontario Town at a Time of Great Change’, by Elizabeth Hearn Milner, pg 50, 2007.

To conclude my photo journey of the Aurora Farmers Market on August 13th, let me say that – there is always room for a garden.

To view the gallery below, click on the thumbnail image, and then on the image to preview all photos from August 13, 2011, Aurora Farmers Market. More photos from the same day related to Senior’s Day and Pioneer presentation coming next.

Living in Aurora, Town of Aurora, Ontario » Pioneer

Pioneer Women At Aurora Farmers Market

Aurora Farmers Market, In The Past It Was Old Post Office & General Store