Demand for spaces and variety of vendors boost visits to Somers Mansion
SOMERS POINT — As the summer goes on, the Somers Point Farm Market on the grounds of Somers Mansion is only going to get busier as a perfect location for locals and visitors heading into neighboring Ocean City.
The Farm Market is scheduled for 8 a.m. to noon Saturdays through Sept. 6 on the grounds of the mansion, where Shore Road meets MacArthur Boulevard and the Route 52 causeway to Ocean City.
Built between 1720 and 1726, the mansion contains many objects of local historical interest, including a collection of local quilts and woven coverlets and many early samplers. It is open for free tours during the market.
Rob Hopkins, a member of the Economic Development Advisory Commission, organizes the event for the city.
“It looks like we are going to have a great year based on vendor participation, vendor interest,” he said on the opening weekend May 17. “People look forward to it.”
Hopkins said Will Boyer, who manages the Stone Harbor Farm Market and the Christmas Market at the mansion, helped establish the event through his many contacts with vendors and was the first one to sign on in Somers Point.
“From day one, he helped bring the people,” Hopkins said.
Now in its fourth year, the market is bigger than it’s ever been with 47 vendors.
Hopkins said there are about 50 spaces and 75 vendors who rotate, with some attending every week and others twice a month or only for a couple of weeks throughout the season.
“There is strong demand and a great variety,” he said.
He received about 100 applications but decided to be selective so there were not multiple vendors selling the same products.
“Certain things we have to keep exclusive, so we give preference to whoever has been with us the longest or whoever will sign up for the most weeks,” he said.
Morgan Cammer of Swedesboro, Gloucester County, and Laura Lutes of Ocean City were selling fresh bagels and cream cheese at the Kismet Bagels tent. The business is based in Philadelphia and planned to open a shop in Ventnor.
It was the women’s first time at the Somers Point Farm Market but they operate at booth at the markets in Margate and Ventnor.
“It’s a good spot, convenient for people coming from all shore points,” Cammer said.
Carmen Guzman-Francesco, owner of Is It Spicy Sauce Co. based in Gloucester City, and Upper Township native Caitlyn Wyand, a 2006 OCHS graduate, were selling hot sauce they make.
Guzman-Francesco makes all of her products. She uses only New Jersey tomatoes and peppers — picking most of them herself — and gets peaches from a farmer in Swedesboro to make her glazes.
She had taken part in the holiday market but Saturday was her first time at the summer market.
“It’s a good spot. I also like that they are using it,” she said of the site. “I’ve passed by it multiple times going places and had never stopped in. What I’ve seen so far today, it’s really well organized, well run. Nice and smooth getting our stuff in and out.”
“At 8 o’clock it wasn’t super busy, but 8 o’clock in the middle of summer should be a different story. If you are driving through — the island doesn’t have a lot of affordable stuff everywhere; you have to really know where you’re going — so to come here and stop before you got to Ocean City is very convenient,” she said.
Mauricio Mendez of Philadelphia was selling fresh products at Anita’s Guacamole.
Maria Marinov, a native of Bulgaria now living in Egg Harbor Township, was offering handmade necklaces, bracelets and earrings.
“I hand-make all of my jewelry and use real freshwater pearls, 925 sterling silver and genuine leather to make them,” she said.
Marinov said she could not let a reporter bite the pearls to determine whether they were real, but explained there is a better — and more sanitary — way to do so.
Rubbing two real pearls together will generate a powder that wipes away, leaving no mark on them.
“That’s how you know they are real, plus they are a little heavier,” she said.
Some vendors offer crafts for children along with their products. Three-year-old Madison Dotson, sporting a purple dress, was coloring wood flowers with Stori Pullman, 2, and Sloane Pullman, 6, at Ruby Moon’s booth.
Andy Kraynock of Andy’s Countryside Farm brought his fresh fruits and vegetables from his home in Petersburg. He had been a mainstay at the Ocean City Farmers Market for more than 20 years until last summer, when he decided to bring his produce to the mainland side of the bridge.
He will be at the market as well as in Stone Harbor all season.
“I think it’s got a lot of potential. It’s got parking, which is very important, and it’s on a terrific location and the management are very open-minded and workable with the vendors,” Kraynock said.
True community event
Hopkins said there was a good crowd for opening day on May 17, noting the city administration supports the event and the Atlantic County Historical Society provides its parking lot.
“Big community support, for sure,” he said.
Mayor Dennis Tapp and Councilman Sean McGuigan were strolling the grounds for the Saturday opening. Hopkins said City Administrator Jason Frost stopped by with his family and that other members of City Council made an appearance. Even former longtime mayor Jack Glasser and his wife, Diane, were shopping small at the market.
“The city support is super cool,” Hopkins said, noting there was heavy equipment staged in the parking lot during work on the Route 52 bridge and the mayor was able to get the vehicles moved for opening day.
Tapp said the market creates great exposure for the city and its top historic site.
“Just two weeks ago we had Bayfest, and that brings everyone out and jazzes everyone up for the beginning of summer, and with Rob opening up a week early, you can see with the crowd how well this has turned out,” Tapp said on opening day. “It’s just another shot in the arm for Somers Point. We’re open for business, come on out here it’s great.”
Not only is the site spacious and accessible with plenty of parking, but it is grassy and shaded and includes a fantastic view of Great Egg Harbor Bay, as well as a cool sea breeze.
The site lets the organizers accommodate vendors with irregular setups rather than the standard 10×10 in a hot parking lot.
Shoppers can expect to find produce, prepared foods, treats (for humans and pets) and other goods, as well as live music from local bands.
Another really neat thing about the site is its historic nature. The home is the oldest in Atlantic County and the heritage garden is growing in the same soil where the Somers family raised their produce.
Vendor fees go straight to the nonprofit Patriots for Somers Mansion and thus are tax-deductible. The group uses the funds to restore and maintain the mansion, which is owned by the New Jersey Park Service.
Walt Gregory, a member of the nonprofit Patriots for Somers Mansion working to rehabilitate the mansion, said the event provides a lot of much-needed exposure.
“On a normal Saturday, we have maybe 40 people come and look at the mansion. On a day like today, we’ll get 200, 300 people go through,” he said. “This event is a big help.”
The mansion is furnished as it might have been during the Somers’ era, with some pieces even used by the family in the 18th century.
It remained in the Somers family until 1937 when it was deeded to the Atlantic County Historical Society. In 1941, it was transferred to the state and is now a State Historic Site.
There is plenty of parking in a lot off MacArthur Boulevard below the mansion, a handicapped-accessible bathroom on site and access via foot or bike from the city bike path.
– STORY and PHOTOS by CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
