Bradford Farmers' Market welcomes new manager

The Bradford Farmers' Market will reopen for the season next month but under new management. 

Alexa Paulos of SweetHeart Cakes & Co. has taken on the role of former market manager, Laura Vree. 

It's bittersweet for Vree who has been managing the market since 2011.

"I am not sad. There is a sense of relief. It's a lot of responsibility, you're responsible for all these people's (vendors) success," she said. "To me, it's a feather in my cap. It is something that for 11 years it was a huge part of my life."

She was happy when Paulos stepped up to take over the title earlier this year. 

"I am so happy it's in good hands," she said. "She's (Paulos) just embraced this and she's done really well."

Paulos joined the market last year as the youngest vendor at 21, selling a variety of cakes, cookies, donuts, brownies, and pastries with her business Sweetheart Cakes & Co.

Paulos is a recent graduate of Western University where she earned a degree in Business Management & Organization Studies with a specialization in accounting. She most recently completed her Market Manager Certification through Farmer's Market Ontario (FMO). 

When Vree let the Market's Board of Directors and vendors her intention to retire as market manager at the end of last season, Paulos stepped up to take over. 

"I just kind of threw myself out there," she said. 

For now, Paulos will focus on managing the market, while doing her baking on the side, just not as a vendor at the market. 

The Bradford Farmers' Market first started in 2008 in the parking lot behind the four corners in downtown Bradford. It then moved to John Street, where it was held every Friday, and eventually turned into a Saturday market at the Bradford Community Centre on Simcoe Road. 

Vree originally joined the market as a vendor selling her designer cookies 'Sweethandmade Cookies' in 2011. 

"It was not going well, and I recognized right away people (vendors) were so unhappy that they wanted to leave the market," she said. 

"If all these vendors leave, we're back to no market," she remembered thinking. 

At the time, the new Library and Cultural Centre had just opened on Holland Street. Vree approached the town about moving the market to the library parking lot, thinking it would be a better spot for shoppers. 

The move ended up doubling the market's patronage. 

"From 2012 onwards we've been in the (library) parking lot and it's been really successful," she said.

In 2018, after her mother passed away, Vree decided to close up her cookie shop, go back to school and manage the market full time. 

Her plan was to manage the market for one season, but one year turned into another, and shortly after, COVID hit. 

"You can't now hire a new manager who now has to navigate all the rules," she remembered thinking.

Vree steered the market through the pandemic, creating an online shop with contactless pickup. 

At the end of the 2021 season, she knew it was time for her to focus on herself and her business. 

"If I don't do it (leave the manager position) now, I won't be able to do it," she remembers thinking. "After all these years, I wanted to put my business first. More than anything I left the market for my business."

Vree says she will be returning to the market though. Not as a vendor, as a shopper. 

"I think it's too difficult not to fall back into the role, and I think it's really important I separate myself from that," she said.

She is pleased to pass on the manager torch to Paulos, and get back to focusing on her own cookie business. 

The Bradford Farmers' Market will be open for online ordering and pickup starting at the end of March, with a return to in-person shopping at the end of May.

Paulos says she has plans already for the upcoming market season events and activities, including the return of the kid's craft table and community booths for local non-profit groups, and live entertainment. 

"I am really excited," said Paulos. "With the support of the Board, I am very thankful for all the work that they are doing."

"I know I have a lot to live up to," she said with a laugh. "I am grateful that she has volunteered to always be there if I need help with anything."

To learn more about the Bradford Farmers' Market, visit their website here, or follow them on social media @bradfordfarmersmarket.