From 12 vendors inside the Mountjoy Arena four years ago to the new permanent location on Pavilion Dr., the Mountjoy Farmers Market is now a village every Saturday morning all summer.
At the final market day this past weekend, tribute was paid to the benefactor of the property, longtime car dealer Barry Petroski. It’s on his former truck ranch.
He says the real credit goes to his wife, Celina. For big decisions like this, he usually goes to her.
“And she’s the one that says yes or no,” he noted.. “When I mentioned what I wanted to do, she was 100% behind it. She said let’s do it.”
Petroski turned things around on market chairman Rock Whissell, calling him the architect of the project. Whissell first took the idea of the market using the Pavilion Dr. location to Petroski about a year ago.
“If he came once, he came 20 times,” Petroski estimated.”And every time he walked in, he was looking at me as if to say ‘Did you change your mind?’ But every time when he had that big smile, how am I going to do that?”
Certificates thanking Petroski for his gift and for more than 60 years in business were presented by Mayor Kristin Murray and Timmins MPP George Pirie. Whissell presented him with a small facsimile of the market sign featuring Barry and Celina Petroski.