THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 20, 1996 TAG: 9610180224
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: COVER STORY
SOURCE: BY MARK YOUNG, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 175 lines
ASK FARMER'S MARKET merchants about the significance of the new amphitheater they see across Princess Anne Road and they'll tell you it deserves a page and a nice photo when the history of Virginia Beach is written.
But they will insist humbly that one of the more prominent chapters in that book will comprise the life and times of their rustic market enterprise. It is a chapter they say contains much of the heart of this city.
While the amphitheater is the latest jewel of the city's sophisticated side, a rejuvenated Farmer's Market is the treasure that holds the soul of its rural heritage, merchants contend.
On Wednesday, City Council will hold a special hearing at 7 p.m. to hear citizens discuss what should be done with the market, which was partially destroyed by fire Aug. 22.
The hearing is, in part, a way of expanding the efforts of several merchants and customers who have been soliciting public feedback through a petition effort.
City Councilwoman Reba S. McClanan, who represents the Princess Anne Borough where the market is located, proposed the public hearing.
Many of the market's merchants say that if only a fraction of the money, influence and collective will of the City Council that went into the amphitheater were spent on their enterprise it too could bloom.
``Why don't we have signage on the interstate and expressway, like they put up for the amphitheater?'' asked Ron Kitchen, who operates a restaurant at the market.
For years, merchants asked for and were denied access from Princess Anne Road on the grounds that Princess Anne was a limited access highway. And yet, noted merchant Mark Holland, when the amphitheater project required it, a whole new road, Concert Drive, was created.
That's why Michelle Shean, Elsa Bergey and June Poole have banded together to try to stem what they see as the city's attempt to sweep away their partly burned enclave. Rumors about the disposition of the current property abound because of its prime location in an emerging economic development district.
Shean, Bergey and Poole have orchestrated a petition drive to have the city commit to rebuilding the venerable wooden market at the site it's occupied for the last 20 years at Princess Anne and Dam Neck roads. So far, they said last week, they have accumulated 6,000 signatures.
For Shean and Bergey, the survival of their businesses provides an economic motivation. But for longtime customers like Poole, it's about saving a landmark.
Bergey's family has operated Bergey's Dairy Store at the market since shortly after its opening 20 years ago. Mark and Michelle Shean have operated Virginia Gardens for about 12 years in one of the taller buildings that form the backlot of the market.
The Sheans have gone from selling homemade lawn chairs and farming hand tools to operating a full-service organic food specialty shop. On five acres in the city's southern half, the couple practice what they preach, with rows of carefully tended leeks, garlic, lettuce, peppers and spinach that two apprentices help maintain. The couple say that agriculture and community are inseparably entwined in the market, and that the market serves to spread the communication of the city's core values.
``This is one of the first places people come to when they come to this area,'' Michelle Shean said as she wrapped organically grown lettuce. ``We give a sense of community. The Navy people and the people who come in to CBN come here for fresh vegetables and they get acquainted with the farmers and the customers who have lived here all their lives.''
Shean has a vision for the market that includes education, history and the promotion of the local agricultural economy. She sees possibilities for tours of the historically and environmentally significant features of the city's rural southern half - departing from the restored Farmer's Market or proposed FarmPark.
FarmPark is the name for a combined small farm, entertainment and commercial center proposed by city Agriculture Director Louis Cullipher. He led a task force that studied the future of the market several years ago and recommended that that FarmPark be co-located with an Equestrian Center on the Lake Ridge property across the road.
For Shean, the talk is enticing, but she is not moved.
``Why can't all that be done here?'' she asked. ``We need to save this market right where it is. God has been leading me through this.''
Shean is encouraging her customers to bring their children for a sidewalk rally at City Hall before Wednesday's council meeting.
Many of the market's longtime merchants support the petition drive Shean has helped lead.
Mark Holland, David Hare and Leo Hewitt stand with their neighbors.
``I depend on the market,'' said Hare, a Murfreesboro, N.C., farmer whose stall was burned in the as-yet unexplained fire. ``I've been bringing things here to sell for 18 or 19 years.''
Hare still makes the 90-minute trip to the market each day, but he now sells his seasoned firewood and produce under a bright yellow and white tent. Of the eight merchants whose stands were destroyed in the fire, Hare is one of only two who have returned to operate in temporary quarters. ``They're all waiting to see what happens,'' he said.
The sense of community that has kept the market alive through the years remains strong.
Fellow produce merchant Mark Holland stops by Hare's tent to swap stories and shuck peanuts. He crumbles a few shells in his hands and pops the nuts into his mouth.
``I like the market right here and so do the majority of my customers,'' he said. ``Nobody much gets excited around here, it's informal. People like that, it's different.''
While sentiment runs strong for keeping the market where it is, not all merchants agree.
Ron Kitchen, who runs the Country Kitchen, said the future of the market is to move and expand. A horse owner and enthusiast, Kitchen said that FarmPark, co-located with an equestrian center, would provide the boost the market needs to thrive.
``Horse associations like the American Quarter Horse Association have annual two-week congresses. One in Columbus (Ohio) this year generated over $2 million in revenue for the local economy,'' Kitchen said. ``The new equestrian center they built in Lexington, Va., paid for itself in two years.''
Other merchants aren't as hopeful.
Two businesses are shutting their doors at the end of the month, and another is holding a 50 percent off sale to reduce inventory.
Shirley Frango's stand, called Shirley's Market, has been closed for two weeks while she recuperates from a hospital stay.
Next door, first-year merchant George Wilkie is selling off his remaining stock of vegetables, even giving some away to his regular customers.
``I hope they keep this place open,'' said Betty Halstead, who drives in from her Ghent home in Norfolk to shop with friend Sylvia Rodgers almost every weekend.
``A lot of people come back every week, religious like,'' Wilkie said. ``But since the fire. . . '' Without finishing his sentence the retired shipyard worker makes his point.
Though harvest time is traditionally one of the market's better months, only a trickle of traffic flows through on this October Saturday.
Next door at Chapman's Flowers and Gifts, Mary Chapman Neilsonis angry.
``I can't wait till December for them to tell me I'm out of a job,'' she said, referring to the original deadline the city announced for its decision. All around her the colorful stock of eclectic gifts and crafts sells for half its usual price.
``We can always get more stock,'' said her mother, Judy Chapman, who ran the business for 15 years before turning it over to her daughter. ``I don't understand the city's position. I get the feeling they don't care.''
She is sad and frustrated. Like many of the merchants, the mother and daughter tell stories of their disappointments with how the market was run. They are hurt that after years of putting in six- and seven-day weeks, they seem to have been abandoned. It is a theme that replays time and again as merchants share their experiences.
Merchants said business is down 50 to 75 percent since the fire.
For Peggy Edwards at Nana's Nook, the decline that followed the fire took the last of her hopes for maintaining the business that has been in her husband's family since 1976. Nana's Nook will close at the end of the month.
Edwards said she does not believe the market will be rebuilt at any location. She sighs as she looks around the small shop stocked with carefully made jellies and jams.
``It's sad,'' said the woman who once spearheaded her own petition drive to save the market, ``a 20-year historical landmark is gone.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos, including color cover, by D. KEVIN
ELLIOTT
The fate of the Farmer's Market must be decided soon, if merchants
are to survive the effects of an August fire. City Council is
inviting you to tell them Wednesday what to do
Sarah Miller dips ice cream at Bergey's Dairy Store. The dairy has
had a shop at the market since shortly after its opening 20 years
ago.
Morris Hewitt works at Back Lot Produce, which is still in business
at the Farmer's Market. The produce stand is owned by Hewitt's
brother, William L. Hewitt. Dorothy Ellsworth, sitting at left, is a
longtime customer.
Michelle Shean and her husband, Mark, operate Virginia Gardens, an
organic food shop, on the back lot. Michelle Shean has a vision for
the market that includes education, history and the promotion of the
local agricultural economy.
Ron Kitchen, who runs the Country Kitchen, says the future of the
market is to move and expand. A horse owner and enthusiast, Kitchen
says that FarmPark, co-located with an equestrian center, would
provide the boost the market needs to thrive. by CNB