
DATE: Friday, July 18, 1997                 TAG: 9707180884

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY MARY REID BARROW, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   96 lines

FARMER'S MARKET RIPE FOR AFTER-FIRE REOPENING

Fresh tomatoes were about the only produce on the shelves in David Hare's new stall at the Farmer's Market on Thursday, but the crimson orbs beckoned customers anyway.

``We put tomatoes out first,'' Hare said, unpacking boxes in anticipation of Saturday's grand reopening of the Beach institution. ``They're red and they're shiny.''

Ripe, home-grown tomatoes meant Hare was once again open for business at his old location. Two-thirds of the Farmer's Market, including Hare's stall, was destroyed by a fire of suspicious origin last August.

About $700,000 in insurance proceeds helped rebuild the market, at the corner of Dam Neck and Princess Anne roads. Even as fruit and vegetables sprang from boxes, painters were busy with last-minute touch-ups to the distinctive red sheds that form the market.

The reopening will have a traditional feel, featuring the best the land has to offer by highlighting food, farm displays and old-fashioned country entertainment that will include a sheep herding demonstration.

The events begin at 10 a.m. and run until 4 p.m., with the official opening scheduled for noon, when Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf will cut open a watermelon.

The celebration aside, Hare was busy getting ready. Tomatoes are only his first offering; sweet corn, squash, cucumbers and watermelon - all from his farm in Murfreesboro, N.C. - will be among a cornucopia of good things to eat.

He was not the only tenant hard at work. Others were busy moving into the rebuilt area while Louis Cullipher, director of the city's Department of Agriculture, was rigging up a big plastic cow on a hay wagon, surrounded by watermelons.

``We're moo-ving in,'' quipped the market's acting superintendent, George Denice.

In addition to the sheep herding demonstration, other special events will focus on the business end of farm life: mules, horses and tractors.

But the festivities, as always in summer in Virginia Beach, will be mainly about good eating. Shoppers with a keen memory will discover some new tenants. Among them are the Real Bread Co., The Country Butcher Shop, Oscar's Tomatoes, Linda's Garden (which arrived on the back lot in late spring), Beverly's Place and R & J Produce.

Shoppers also will notice a slight change in the market's configuration. A large shed open on both sides will feature picnic tables rather than vendors. The shed will unite Farmer's Market circle merchants with merchants on the back lot, Cullipher said.

``We also want the shed to have a community focus,'' Cullipher added, ``where people can sit and eat Bergey's ice cream and Real Bread pastries, and kids can play with farm toys.''

Not everything has changed. Some of the stalls weren't burned and some merchants have been working hard to stay open, despite decreased attendance and construction activity. Business declined for some merchants by about 50 percent last year, Cullipher said.

``It's been a long, long time, almost a year,'' said 21-year merchant Shirley Frango. ``It's been rough.''

Cullipher vows the new market will be an improvement on the old, particularly with the new shed where folks can gather.

``We're calling it a rebirth,'' he said. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

D. KEVIN ELLIOTT/The Virginian-Pilot

Ernestine Johnson shops for peaches Thursday at Hare Farms' stand at

the Farmer's Market.

STAFF file color photo

TRAGIC BLAZE

Someone set the fire that spread rapidly through the Farmer's Market

last August. The Virginia Beach City Council then wrestled over

whether to rebuild the market at that site or another.

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