St. Mary of the Angels Farmer's Market was a great success!
On a crispy cold, blessed, Sunday morning, October 9th, some 17 youth or so, began their day packing and organizing themselves for what was to be a fantastic day of selling super fresh vegetables, honey, free range eggs, jams, produce and artisan goods and more all donated by local Ontario farmers in support the youth of the Neocatechumenal Way of Toronto. Of course, as it is with any Parish supported fundraising function, it absolutely included the sale of Rosaries and other religious artifacts, this was a de facto at our St. Mary of the Angels Farmer's Market.
Work, Work, Work
The day began really the night before, as the youth diligently got to work in unpacking, packing, bagging and pricing the fresh produce. Early the next day, just like it is in your typical street market, the setup of chairs, tables, tents, and other stations went up. The farmer's market began it's operations, if you will, at 8am Sunday morning and it lasted until 2pm.
The Way of the Market
After each mass, dozens of parishioners filed along "the Way" no pun intended, to pick their choice of nicely packed produce. And although I did not see it or hear it myself, I suspect that there might have been the occasional parishioner wanting to cut a deal or negotiate down a listed price. Parishioners were served complimentary coffee, apple cider and cookies while they shopped along the beautiful laid out row of fresh and organic farmed produce. Many parishioners were generous and donated funds without purchasing anything, some paid for coffee, although they were not required to do so, and like with any other street markets, some were window shopping and that was ok too.
Rewarding Experience
Overall the farmer's market brought together a group of youth that delivered a fantastic, hustling and bustling, street market shopping experience to the parishioner's at St. Mary of the Angels. And for sure, with the intercession of our Lady, the youth managed to inch closer to their overall goal of making the trek to Lisbon, Portugal and to have an encounter with the Pope and perhaps even visit the shrine of our Lady of Fatima along the way.