HOLLAND, MI (WHTC) – The Holland Farmers Market season is not the only thing winding down at the 8th Street Marketplace this week.
When the Market closes on Saturday at 3 PM, it will be the end of an era for Market Master Candy Todd and Market Assistant Judy Laidler, both of whom will be retiring at year’s end. For Laidler, who spent her first seven years as an outdoor guide at the market before becoming Todd’s top aide in 2014, she has seen the growth of the Market’s popularity beyond the Lakeshore.
“Especially in the summertime, we are getting more and more people from out of the area, out of the state, out of the country” she said on “WHTC Morning News on Wednesday. “They are so excited to see our market because it’s something that they haven’t seen before – the quality of the vendors, the variety of items we have in the market.”
The city of Holland was planning to have an independent contractor handle the Market’s operations for the next two years during the renovation of the adjacent Holland Civic Center before deciding whether to permanently fill the vacancies created by Todd’s and Laidler’s retirement.
