Keeping Our Farmers Market Open!
O’Hara Commons started our Wednesday Farmers Market in 2017. The market fulfills our mission statement and our service to the community.
Connecting local people to local food, developing stable small scale food systems, strengthening local economy and regional food security, while preserving vital agricultural land.
The most recent directive from Montana’s Governor caused us to review our Covid-19 Pandemic strategies. We have been working with our Public Health Department. Their assistance has been outstanding at every stage of this process, providing clarity during the changing environment and regulations.
The Wednesday Farmers Market has averaged 110 people per market this season. We are open for two hours. Taking into account our protocol for social distance, limiting the number of people on the lawn at any point in time and our recommendation for individual masks, we will continue with no alterations under the newest directive.
Covid-19 in our community is a grave concern for all of us. We would like to take a moment to remind you of our protocol.
We ask:
• Stay home if you are sick.
• Come in, shop and depart as quickly as possible. This will allow for the line to move quickly and minimize the waiting time for other visitors.
• Wear a mask.
• Social distance. Keep at least 6 feet apart and only 3 people per line of each vendor.
• Sanitize your hands, either through your own process or utilizing our hand washing station.
We recognize that mask wearing is not feasible for all individuals and we do not believe that it is our place make inquiries to those without masks, respecting the HIPAA Privacy Rule. Yet, we do feel that it is important for those of you without masks to be the most adherent to social distancing. O’Hara Commons and the market vendors want each of our visitors to be comfortable. Likewise, we want to protect our hardworking vendors and volunteers. If you are not wearing a mask and not following our protocol for social distancing, at that point we will have to ask you to leave the market.
Thank you for your understanding, your support and for coming to the Wednesday Farmers Market. We will move through these times and appreciate the shared effort to make that process as graceful as possible. Please help us to keep everyone in our community as safe as possible, support and protect our local food producers and ensure that all community members have access to the freshest, most delicious local foods!
Samantha O’Byrne
O’Hara Commons Director & Market Coordinator
