After five years and dedication from community members and Milwaukee organizations, the Walker Square farmers market made its official reopening, Sunday July 6.
The market, 1031 S. Ninth St., originally ran from 2011-2019 with community member and immigration lawyer Jason Cleereman at the helm. After his death in 2020, the market stopped. But now, the very community members whose lives he touched have brought it back to life.
Nicole Hertel Meirose, a Friends of Walker Square co-leader, who helped restart the market, said when she moved right across from the park in 2012, she met Cleereman. She said he walked right up to her door and asked if she wanted to join the neighborhood association.
“Jason was a passionate neighbor, a leader and an advocate for this neighborhood and this community. Thanks to him we found a beautiful group of people who care deeply about this neighborhood,” Meirose said.
She said the people who worked to revive the market are an example of hope.
“Even in a world, in a neighborhood that sometimes feels overwhelmed with hard things, if we all put in our grain of sand and work together, we can create something beautiful and goodness will triumph,” Meirose said.
Milwaukee County Supervisor Caroline Gómez-Tom echoed that the market is an opportunity for growth in the community.
“It’s really important that we’re here together today to make sure that we’re fighting against the bad things that happen in our neighborhood. When we’re here together we’re stronger,” she said.
Lining the walkways of the park Sunday, vendors sold boba tea, flowers, fresh produce and juice. Some vendors familiar with Milwaukee’s farmers markets, and others setting up their tables and tents for the first time.
Kia Chang, from Milwaukee, was a first-time vendor at the market. She’s in the process of opening a boba tea shop with her sister, and said she was happy to connect with the community she’ll be serving.
“I feel honored to be a part of this. It’s great to see a lot of the community members come out and support us. It’s really amazing,” Chang said.
But Chang and her sister weren’t the only family members at the market. Their parents, Fong Chang and Eu Xiong were selling produce and floral arrangements from their farm in New Berlin.
Chang said she’s been attending farmers markets with her parents since she was a little girl, and now she gets to carry on the tradition with her own stand.
After community members had time to shop, a group of children from the neighborhood, with the help of Gómez-Tom and Alderman José G. Pérez, cut the red ribbon to signify the markets official reopening.
To support the market, the Friends of Walker Park received a $25,000 grant from the Bader Philanthropy Group and an $8,000 grant from the Milwaukee Parks Foundation.
The Parks Foundation had a tent at the park and Maribel Lorea, the outreach coordinator, said she’s happy that the parks have a presence at the newly opened market.
“This is my first market I’ve come to, and I already want to come back,” Lorea said.
Moving forward, community members are ready to expand. Gladys Reyes, from the Walker Square neighborhood said she grew up going to the market with her parents and she’s excited to help it grow.
“We started with one vendor, then three, five and seven, so hopefully as we grow, we’ll get more local vendors that we want to support,” Reyes said.
The market will run from 10 a.m to 2 p.m on Sunday mornings through Sept. 28.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Walker Square farmers market makes official reopening with help from community members
Reporting by Sophia Tiedge , Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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