The Verona Farmers Market is taking a hiatus this year.
According to Thomas Dessell, borough police chief and president of the Verona Chamber of Commerce, the market won’t be happening this year because the chamber member who normally spearheads the project stepped down from the organization due to other commitments.
“No one stepped up to take it over,” Dessell said.
The chamber usually hosts the market on Thursdays from 2 to 7 p.m. June through October.
Dessell said, aside from the event’s leadership leaving, the declining participation of vendors over the course of the event in the past created the need to reassess how it’s run.
“We would start off with a bang and then sort of middle of the summer it would be a handful (of vendors), and by the end there’s just one of two (vendors),” Dessell said.
Dessell said he hasn’t heard much from community members in regard to the news.
The decision is not permanent he said. The chamber plans to take a look at the event to see how to make it more accessible to people.
Dessell said a time change may be in the future, considering the market traditionally starts in the middle of a weekday.
“People work,” he said. “Next year, we’re going to reevaluate potentially looking at a different day, different time and go from there.”