SCHUYLKILL HAVEN - The farmers market in Schuylkill Haven will not be held this year due to decreased attendance and vendor conflicts.
Scheduling conflicts with farmers who sell goods at the market are the main reason for the decision, Theresa Lonergan, president of the Greater Schuylkill Haven Area Business Association, said Thursday.
"There were not enough patrons to support the farmers that did come," she said.
She didn't know the number of vendors or patrons who attended the market previous years.
"We voted at that time not to continue it," Lonergan said about a planning meeting held in January for yearly business association events.
Marlin Berger Jr., borough council president, said Friday he was unaware the market was not being held this year but is not surprised.
He said the market was "going downhill," remarking there were few vendors there and that attendance had been poor.
The market started in 2007. The days the market was opened varied over the years. It was open the third Thursday of the month for a while until being held Saturdays starting in 2013. In 2012, there were 12 vendors.
"Some days they were busy. Some days they were not," Lonergan said.
Heidi Kemble, a coordinator of previous markets, said there were five or six vendors at the market last year.
"We only had one main farmer" from Klingerstown who was willing to commit to being a vendor this year, she said.
She contacted other farmers in the area but did not have any luck because they had other obligations or said they could make more money elsewhere.
Kemble said the effort of searching for vendors took a lot of time, which was not something she wanted to do.
Lonergan said the market was started as a way to provide something to the public.
"I thought it was a good thing" when the market was well-attended by customers and vendors, but that was years ago, Berger said.
"I feel sad that we don't have a farmers market," Jan Sickinger, co-owner of What's in the Oven? Pies, a borough business, said Thursday.
She sold her pies at the market previously, but since establishing her business at 35 E. Main St., she has not had a presence at the market.
"I think our biggest problem is our farmers have conflicting schedules," she said.
Lonergan said anyone interested in reviving the farmers market would need approval from the borough council.