Farmer celebrates 25 years at Cairo Market Days
The Daily Mail
July 9, 2009

CAIRO — Market Days are here again.

For the 18th year, Carol Spohler has brought vendors to Cairo’s Main Street between 9 a.m. and about 3 p.m., weather permitting, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays for Cairo Market Days.

Among the vendors who set up booths on the lawn of the Cairo Elementary School to sell new handbags, stuffed animals, t-shirts and wind chimes and used videos, tapes, records and other items is Eric Scherer.

Scherer, of Brothers 2 farm, on Blue Hill Road in Columbia County, sells fruits, vegetables and flowers at the market, and has for 25 of the 28 years the market has been open.

On a recent sunny Tuesday morning, Sherer stood behind a booth of tables covered with a rainbow of peaches, plums, nectarines, tomatoes, zucchinis, watermelons, squashes, garlic, onions, eggplants, blueberries and flowers for sale.

“[They are] beautiful, fresh and priced decently,” he said.

His fruits and vegetables are priced at less than $5.

Scherer and his brother Steven have run their farm 26-acre farm for more than 40 years. It has been in the family for longer than 50.

Scherer said his favorite crops on the farm are flowers, including snapdragons. Colorful flowers, he said, add a pretty contrast to the vegetables’ green leaves.

“More color in the field is better,” he said.

Scherer sells produce and flowers in Cairo and at markets in Arkville, New York City and Connecticut during the week. His brother travels to markets in Woodstock on the weekends.

He said the trip to Cairo is much easier and less costly than are trips downstate.

“This is very close, it is 15 minutes from home,” he said.

Sherer said he notices that consumers in New York City generally buy more goods than those who come to that Cairo market and other local markets.

This trend, he said, could mean that farmers may not be able to compete with large grocery stores.

“Local people need to learn to support more local people,” he said. “The little guy isn’t supported like he used to be.”

Scherer is one vendor who always claims the same corner space, next to the school parking lot, market coordinator Spohler said from her “office” at a folding table under a tree. He is her “vegetable guy” and the only one she has come to sell produce.

Other merchants, she said, take spots on the lawn on a first-come-first-served basis. At one time, vendors would arrive at the market when it was held in front of the municipal building as early as 4 a.m. to secure their favorite area.

In the past, children involved with area 4-H clubs helped Spohler map out the different booth areas, but now venders can generally gauge how much space they will need and where aisles for pedestrians should be left open.

Soon, a vendor selling hot dogs, hamburgers and other hot food will take a spot at the market, Spohler said.

Spohler said shoppers can find something new and different at the market each day. Different merchants may show up depending on the weather or their own schedules bringing with them their own unique offerings she said.

And, she said, one person’s castoffs can be another person’s treasures. She said a local artist once found the perfect pair of boots after which he patterned part of a sculpture.

Spohler said vacation patterns and weather can dictate the number of shoppers who come to the market. She said historically the market has been busiest when Cairo’s many resorts are full of vacationers. Rainy days can keep venders and shoppers home, she said.

So far, rain has fallen during each market day. But, Spohler said she plans on shoppers stopping at the market on their way down Main Street or on their way home from work.

“I am just hoping we have a good summer,” she said.

Cairo Market Days, or “The Biggest Little Flea Market” in Cairo are sponsored by the Cairo Area Chamber of Commerce and run through Sept. 2.