Meet Market Manager, Gail Reynolds

The Higganum Village Farmers’ Market put out a call for a new Market Manager in for the 2010 season. They needed someone in charge of the vendors, farmers and people who would come to visit each week; someone with an eye to detail and organization. This person also needed to be a sort of social worker too, being the liaison for the Market to the town as well as public. Haddam resident Gail Reynolds answered the call. 

Serving nearly 30 years as an Information Technology Professional, she says, “I began as a programmer but maintenance programming is not very original or rewarding.  At my first IT job, at the non-profit speech research lab in New Haven, I was also assistant editor of a refereed scientific journal. I moved to the Travelers after a few years but hated it and left for Aetna after two years.“ 

Yet, her interest was always in natural history, having received her B.S. in Biology, and a Master of Forest Science from Yale University. “I specialized in Terrestrial Ecology—the study of land-based ecosystems,” she said of her studies. “ My large project was working with another classmate on the “National Natural Landmarks of the New England/Adirondack Physiographic Region,” a 700+ page study that is no doubt gathering dust on some National Park Service closet shelf.” 

Reynolds serves as the President of Haddam’s Conservation Commission, and is Vice- Chairwoman of Haddam’s Land Trust. Avid skier, outdoors person and dog-lover, she is often seen biking her way through the center of Haddam, collecting cans and refuse along the way. She’s been known to rip out an invasive species from time to time, too. 

When asked if she had a farming background, she replied, “Nope—very suburban upbringing in the Levittown section of West Haven; however, I always felt that I was missing out on something and felt I found it by studying the natural world. When I began dating Dan (she met husband, Dan Reynolds while in graduate school; he is the Environmental Engineer for Bradley Airport), his parents were pasturing cows on their property in northern VT. That was my introduction to dairy farming. The cows ate all the upholstery off the old Packards that were still in the fields.” 

However, Reynolds says she always went to farmers’ markets when they were available when she worked in New Haven, and would visit the one in Deep River when her son Randall (who will be entering his sophomore year in college in August) was playing youth football there.

Despite the low pay and myriad job responsibilities, Reynolds had just retired from Aetna and took the job, saying, “The entire market earnings are less than what I made in two weeks at Aetna.  It was a whimsical decision on my part.  My impression is that people in ‘McMansion house farms’ (i.e., subdivisions) seek similarly suburban food.  I am personally bothered by the lack of connection to the land by the majority of people and feel that a farmers’ market can connect people to the land and that agriculture is a valid way to slow suburban residential sprawl, which is a personal pet peeve.  I also feel that I can apply my professional skills to benefit the market.

The size and location puts the weekly market on Higganum Green in the middle of the states’ over-120 Farmers’ Markets. While not as big as larger city markets, the H.V.F.M. came in fifth overall of all the markets in a casual on-line poll posted by the American Farmland Trust, which took into account overall appeal and availability. 

With plans to organize a “Farmers’ Market Trail” for the weekend getaway crowd in the summer months, the Market Board plans more public outreach programs regarding local sustainability and organic farming. While not specifically an “all organic” market, many farmers who attend do practice organic farming principals.

When asked about her take on the whole Farmers’ Market movement, Reynolds replied specifically about Higganum’s market, “Every situation is different and there are few absolutes.  I think most people do not understand the meaning of the word “organic” and are snookered into thinking they are doing healthy things when they most likely are not.  I look at Coventry as a role model but we are a different demographic.  The public isn’t a monolith.  Invariably some folks love the farmers’ market and some don’t.”  

During the down time, Reynolds takes care of vendor recruitment, budgeting, strategic planning, and education.  Earlier this year, her application for a State of Connecticut Department of Agriculture Grant garnered the market much needed funding. There’s been a resistant sector of the town to the farmers’ market ideology, feeling it is taking funding away from Haddam businesses. Yet, Reynolds feels supported overall, by the Board and Town, especially by First Selectman Paul DeStefano. 

A lover of things eccentric and unique (especially Frank Zappa recordings), when asked how her family feels about her retirement “job,” Reynolds says, “I don’t really know.  They figure it is another of my oddities!”

Much more than the ten hours a week for which she was hired, Reynolds worked though out winter months visiting vendors, attending informational seminars and taking classes. She says that the food safety class held at the UCONN Cooperative Extension Center in Haddam was “very helpful.” 

The Market Board feels Reynolds brings an important professionalism to the H.V.F.M. and is fun, too, and very much supported in becoming well educated on market issues. Reynolds has to mesh all kinds of personalities and conditions into one cohesive “Market” experience each week.  Some folks come for the camaraderie of the market experience. Still, some folks find their way to the market each week as happy serendipity; they were just driving through! What does Market Manager Gail Reynolds feel about all these weekly challenges?

Undaunted, she simply says, “That is what makes it fun!”