STEVE CORNELIUS I CJ
Joy Carroll and her daughter Mollee Belle Carroll
pose in front of the new Lake Cumberland
Farmers Market in downtown Somerset.
Taking off
Lake Cumberland Farmers Market
plants roots in downtown Somerset
It began in a Somerset City
Council workshop as one of
a half-dozen items brought
up by Mayor Alan Keck:
What would the council
think about building a Farmers
Market?
Fast forward a year and a
couple of months, and the Lake
Cumberland Farmers Market
unfurled its roots into the soil –
and heart – of Somerset.
The market held its grand
opening on June 11, with vendors
across the region offering
produce, goods and crafts to the
steady stream of customers.
And while it may have
started with the mayor and city
councilors agreeing to bring it
into being, the person in charge
and the one who brought it to
life was Somerset Community
Development Specialist Joy
Carroll.
The first sales may have been
made even before the official
start time of 1 p.m. Carroll
admits that customers were
coming in early. “We actually had
people in at 8 a.m. this morning,”
she said. “We had to tell them to
leave and come back at 1 p.m.
But as of 12:15 they were piling
in, waiting.
“I think that we have had an
excellent turnout for the first day,”
she added.
There were 13 vendors for that
first day, and more signed up to
come in later on. A few days after
opening, Carroll said she was still
getting applications.
“We gave out six new applications
on Saturday, and they were all
turned back in by Sunday,” she said.
The building, located on East
Mount Vernon Street across from
the Energy Center, was designed to
be both and indoor and outdoor
market.
July 2020 In Touch with Southern Kentucky • 7