North Bay Farmers' Market co-founder to retire as vendor
After about 20 years, the co-founder of the North Bay Farmers' Market is ready to retire as a vendor.
Ron Warman, known as the 'Rhubarb King' was instrumental in turning the farmers' market into what it is today.
"The customers have been giving me a hard time telling me I can't retire," chuckled Warman. "They've been congratulating me. But it's time. You have to know when to hang it up."
The farmers' market was originally under control of the Downtown Improvement Area (DIA). When it ended, Warman and a couple other vendors envisioned and started running a vendor-based market.
"The public wants to support local. That's huge," he said. "I think our timing was excellent. When the public supports local, they come out in the thousands."
The new market began to pick up steam. The public was thrilled with the idea of supporting local farmers and artisans.
"We took the market from an arrears situation to a profit," said Jaimie Board, who worked with Warman to revamp the market. "I'm really proud of him and now he has a few years of relaxation and he deserves it."
Warman and the team crafted the guidelines that makes the farmers' market what it is today.
"He's the 'Rhubarb King'. I've never seen someone sell so much rhubarb," said the farmers' market's current chairman Mitch Deschatelets. "He's one of the pioneers. He helped make the constitution and that's what makes the great atmosphere we have here."
From working on farms as a teenager, Warman dreamed of owning his own farm. While it was not financially feasible, he bought an old homestead on Alsace Rd. in Powassan building a greenhouse and gardens naming it 'Alsace Gardens' after the road and the Alsace-Lorraine region between France and Germany.
"I've made a lot of friendships," Warman said. "Same with the vendors. It's been like a big family and a successful market runs like a big family."
Warman plans to officially close down as a vendor later this year when all of his product is sold.
But, he plans to continue to supply vendors with his rhubarb to keep a presence in the market through his produce.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'I have the will to live': N.B. woman needs double lung transplant
A New Brunswick woman suffering from sarcoidosis, a disease that limits your lung capacity, is in need of a double lung transplant.
Video shows suspect setting Toronto-area barbershop on fire
Video of a suspect lighting a Richmond Hill barbershop on fire earlier this week has been released by police.
Police officer hit by driver of fleeing vehicle in Toronto
York Regional Police say they are continuing to search for a suspect in an auto theft investigation who was captured on video running over a police officer in Toronto last month.
The kids from 'Mrs. Doubtfire are all SUPER grown up now, and we're not OK
The adorable trio of child actors from the 1993 classic comedy 'Mrs. Doubtfire,' which starred the late and great Robin Williams, are all grown up and looking back on their seminal time together.
Boeing is on the verge of launching astronauts aboard new capsule, the newest entry to space travel
It’s the first flight of Boeing’s Starliner capsule with a crew on board, a pair of NASA pilots who will check out the spacecraft during the test drive and a weeklong stay at the space station.
Suter scores late goal, clinches series for Canucks
Pius Suter scored with 1:39 left and the Vancouver Canucks advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs with a 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday night in Game 6.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
TD worst-case scenario more likely after drug money laundering allegations: analyst
TD Bank Group could be hit with more severe penalties than previously expected, says a banking analyst after a report that the investigation it faces in the U.S. is tied to laundering illicit fentanyl profits.
Britney Spears 'home and safe' after paramedics responded to an incident at the Chateau Marmont, source tells CNN
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.