LEON COUNTY, FL — A new community market in Woodville is bringing fresh goods to a food desert and providing a central location for neighbors to connect and support local small businesses. At J. Lewis Hall Senior Park, tents lined up the grass as neighbors gathered for the first day of the Woodville Community Market.
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A new community market in Woodville is bringing fresh goods to a food desert and providing a central location for neighbors to connect and support local small businesses.
"Well, I've lived in Woodville for 35 years, and so the fact that they started bringing a market here is just amazing. I love it," Wendi Hollister, longtime Woodville residnet, said.
For Hollister, the town has lost some of its key gathering places over the years.
"The Flea Market was taken away, and we would call that our Woodville Mall. So that's gone, and then the Food Giant was taken away. They haven't replaced that yet," Hollister said.
Hollister hopes this new market can help bring life and opportunity back to the area.
"There is possibilities to get bigger, more businesses here in Woodville, because Woodville is growing, it shows a lot of lot more opportunities," Hollister said.
That opportunity is exactly what vendors like Crystal Johnson are counting on. Johnson runs a small sourdough bakery with her daughter, turning a passion into a growing business. She says markets like this offer small entrepreneurs a place to connect.
"We need to start transitioning from that big business to bringing it back to the community, being able to, here, I do bread, you do jams, you know, whatever the case is, and be able to help our community out in that way," Johnson said.
The market's founder, Syrheda LaShae, says what started as a simple vendor space is quickly becoming much more.
"To be honest with you, I underestimated in the beginning the impact that this would have on this end of Leon County," LaShae said. "Not only are we offering fresh goods in a food desert, we are also providing space and opportunity for emerging business owners, small and local, to be able to offer their goods to this end."
Saturday was just the beginning. LaShae says there will be seven more market days during this season. The next market will be April 4, followed by another on May 2. The market runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Woodville.
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