The Lilydale Craft and Produce Market has returned after a four month hiatus, with the first Sunday of the month filled with locally made and grown items for people to enjoy.
Rotary Club of Lilydale president Chris Hoskin said prior to Covid-19 the running of the market was like a well oiled machine, where the final details could be decided just a few days ahead.
“Prior to Covid our market committee would meet a few days prior to the market to discuss things like the number of stall holders, the weather forecast, the number of volunteers required to help set and run the market on the day,” he said.
“These were routine requirements that didn’t change much from market to market.”
But with the introduction of Covid-19, Mr Hoskin said there were a number of “very stringent requirements” placed on the market.
“It meant we had to develop and implement a Covid plan. This included the regular cleaning of toilets, chairs and tables throughout the day and a Covid ‘Marshal’ to remind people of social distancing rules.
“Thankfully there was a bit of material available for us to use but in some ways this was still in its infancy, in particular, early QR check-in was slow and often pen and paper was a quicker means of registration.”
Now that restrictions have been lifted, the Rotary club was able to get back to doing what they love, as well as raise funds for its many projects, with the first market hosted on Sunday 7 November.
All volunteers and stallholders had to be fully vaccinated to attend and participate in the market.
Although there were quite a few compliance obligations placed on the Rotary club to ensure the welfare of not only its volunteers but also the patrons that visited the market, Mr Hoskin said Rotary would do whatever needs to be done in order to run the monthly event.
“The market has been running for a number of years and is our main means of raising funds for the various projects our club runs,” Mr Hoskin said.
“Also our market allows us to show our face to the local Community where we can highlight some of our projects over the recent years and generally answer questions about how Rotary operates and what we do.
“It allows us to support local small business people and it allows us to interact with the public who might not otherwise be aware of what Rotary does in our local community.
The Rotary market is held on the first Sunday of every month, except January, from 9am to 2pm at Bellbird Park, next door to Lillydale lake. A gold coin donation is required on entry. There is plenty of parking available.
All donations and stallholder fees from the market and other fundraising activities are used to fund projects in the local community, as well as across the country and the world.
For information contact President Chris Hoskin, hoskinchris1@gmail.com or
contact@lilydalerotary.org.au
