Development at Farmers Market

As one of the original tenants (and the first non-farmer) in the Farmers Market, I would like to add my endorsement to the column by Henry L. Hilty Jr. (Commentary, Oct. 13) recommending development surrounding the market. It must be preserved.

There have been many changes since that first exciting summer when we were being “discovered” by the householders of Beverly Hills, and the Hollywood stars started flocking to the “quaint” gathering of farmers’ trucks in the middle of the oil field.

I remember that winter when the rains turned the unpaved parking lot into a quagmire. My husband and I begged the tenants to “stay one more year, because the sun would shine again.” They did. We paid $100 out of our own meager earnings to bring the first electricity into the market, so we could refrigerate our homemade products and connect the peanut butter machine.

When our customers began eating Magee’s salads out of the containers while they shopped, I introduced the first paper plate luncheons and fought with the management to put in a few tables and chairs so people would no longer need to sit on overturned orange crates.

I believe that this proposal is necessary to the continued life of the market. If the Gilmore Co. fulfills the promise of maintaining the integrity of the market while developing the surrounding property into a viable enterprise, the Farmers Market will continue to be an asset to the Fairfax community, to Los Angeles and all of Southern California.

At 92, I must confess that I miss the old market of the ‘40s and ‘50s; but I also know that change is necessary for all life to flourish . . . else it will stagnate and die.

SNOWDIE BLANCHE MAGEE, Claremont