Lori Lentz of North Huntingdon sells pure homemade baking extracts from her Irwin store, Vnlla Cncpt.
But she really benefits from the booth she has operated in the spring, summer and fall at the Ligonier Country Market.
Yet the popular market — where vendors sell produce, flowers, beef, poultry, eggs and cheese, specialty breads, pastries, honey, hot cooked foods, handmade crafts and more — could be in jeopardy of not opening this year.
A local tradition for 50 years, the market typically draws between 3,000 and 5,000 visitors each weekend during its regular season. The search for a new home for the market came after the Loyalhanna Watershed Association and market officials this year could not reach an agreement on a new lease for use of a 9.5-acre field at West Main Street and Springer Road, just across Mill Creek from Ligonier Borough.
The market has operated on the watershed association’s property for the past 25 years. The association terminated its 2024 lease with the market and sought in a new agreement to reduce the permitted number of vendors from 130 to 75.
The Ligonier Township supervisors Tuesday did not open a path for the Country Market to set up May 16 at the Waterford Volunteer Fire Department. The supervisors did not agree to rezone the property from an agricultural designation to a neighborhood-commercial zone.
The Country Market applied to the township for a special events permit to operate a farmers market. But the supervisors’ failure to approve the rezoning of the fire department property made any decision on the events permit a moot point.
The Ligonier Country Market on Friday still displayed information on its website that it will operate at the Waterford site, 44 Fire Hall Road, beginning May 16 and continuing through Sept. 26.
Kelly Svesnik, market director, said Tuesday after the supervisors failed to rezone the fire department property that there are other options for the market site. She did not reveal what those other options might be, and she could not be reached for further comment.
The Country Market special events permit for use of the Loyalhanna Watershed Association property remains valid, said Michael Strelic, township manager. The Country Market, however, would need to reach an agreement with the watershed association for use of the property, he said.
Waterford Fire Department President Robert Derk refrained from commenting on what the fire department might do in response to the failure to have its property rezoned. He could not be reached for comment for this story, but he said Tuesday that the rezoning request was driven by the department’s desire for a new fire hall, not for a farmers market, at the site.
Township residents suggested during a hearing Tuesday that the rezoning request could have been handled differently, with the fire department possibly seeking a conditional use of the land that would allow for an expanded fire hall and a farmers market, without rezoning the property to a commercial designation.
The Country Market has not filed for a special events permit at another site, Strelic said, nor has the Waterford fire department filed for any alternative to rezoning the property.
Vendors weigh in
“This market means so much to the vendors who put their time, money and heart into what they grow and create. For many, it’s not just a hobby — it’s how they make a living,” said Joyful Jar Candle Co.’s Denise Kunkelmann, who typically has a booth at the market twice a month to sell candles from her Latrobe business. “It’s, like, heartbreaking.”
Lentz, who has typically sold her products at Ligonier Country Market for two Saturdays a month, said, “It will be sad if it can’t open. It’s one of my top markets. It does very good.
“We just want to grow our business. This is my heart and soul in these jars,” she said, pointing to shelves where containers of whole vanilla beans were fermenting in vodka to create a variety of flavors.
For now, about 40 vendors listed on the Country Market website as selling products in 2026 remain in the dark as to where the market might be located and when it might open.
“I don’t understand what is making it so hard” to get a permit to open the Country Market, said Matt Mesich, a wildlife painter from Derry Township who relies on the Country Market venue for sales. “I have a following, and they’re looking for me. They come from Pittsburgh, from up north and from a lot of places,” including out of state, Mesich said.
Even if the township supervisors had approved a rezoning request for the Waterford fire department, the location is not ideal, Mesich said. Traveling north of Ligonier on the two-lane routes 711 and 271 to Waterford will create traffic nightmares for the thousands of visitors, he added.
Alternate sites
For those vendors looking for at least another outdoor site to sell their products while the Country Market’s future site remains in limbo, the popular Greensburg Night Market cannot help them. That market spreads over four blocks of South Pennsylvania Avenue, but it is sold out, said Jessica Hickey, owner and founder.
“We already have a waiting list,” Hickey said, noting that the market that opens in April usually has about 150 vendors.
The Latrobe Farmers Market, which operates at the expansive Legion Keener Park from noon to 4 p.m. Tuesdays, from June 2 to Oct. 6, has about 130 spaces and room for more, said Kevin Hook, market manager for the Greater Latrobe Parks and Recreation department, which sponsors the market. At least one Country Market vendor has already registered to display their wares in Latrobe, Hook said.
If the Country Market cannot find a place to hold its farmers market this year, Lentz said she will look at other venues for Saturday sales. The problem with finding another Saturday farmers market this time of the year is that some of the other sites do not have space for new vendors.
Mesich said the drawn-out search for a new place to hold the Country Market will end up hurting his business.
“I could have booked a lot of shows on Saturdays,” but many of the venues where he could sell his artwork are sold out, he said.
“I’m going to lose a lot of money over this.”
Lentz echoed that sentiment.
“There are a lot of vendors who have all of their eggs in that basket,” she said.