MARKET MAVEN

Movies and popcorn. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Wimbledon and strawberries and cream.

Fantastic tandems, for sure. Then there’s the pairing of the Lake Bluff Farmers Market and Kathleen “Gridley” Swanton. This one takes the halo in any match-made-in-heaven contest.

“I’m the lady you’ll see under the flowered tent at our Lake Bluff Farmers Market,” the humble and approachable Swanton says.

But the longtime Lake Bluffian is much more than that. Swanton is the heart and soul and smiling face of the Lake Bluff Farmers Market, now celebrating its 30th year every Friday—through October 13— from 7 a.m. until noon at Route 176 and Scranton Avenue in Lake Bluff.

If you think a farmers market is only about selling fruits, vegetables, cheese, and baked goods, among other fare, directly to customers, Swanton—in her 12th season as Lake Bluff Farmers Market manager— would like to encourage you to spend some time at her village’s farmers market and see what else happens there.

“Our farmers market brings people together,” Swanton says, adding it also features live music and children’s entertainment (by family-run RCJuggle). “It’s where people enjoy one another and enjoy being out in our quaint, small-town community of around 6,000 residents. We have fabulous vendors who love Lake Bluff and are very proud of what they do and sell. Our vendors are fascinating people and are always willing to chat with customers and establish a special camaraderie.”

The Lake Bluff Farmers Market roster of vendors is an alluring assortment each year. This year’s batch of 60 includes Coloma, Michigan-based K & K Farms (seasonal fruits); Palatine-based European Homemade Goodies (Serbian and Italian pastries); Barrington-based Six Generations Farm (vegetables and herbs); Marengo-based Umland’s Crunchy Cheese; and Highland Park-based TASTEBUDZ (BBQ pork, veggie burgers, soups, hummus, salad dressings, and applesauce).

Look also for Shane Wimmer on Friday mornings at the Lake Bluff Farmers Market, which is sponsored by first-year backer Lake Forest Bank & Trust. Wimmer is the owner of GourminiS, which has handcrafted caramels and chocolates in Libertyville since 2012.

“Shane’s story is a wonderful one,” Swanton says of the young Libertyville High School graduate. “He was only 8 when he watched a cooking show on TV and became fascinated by candy making. Look what he’s doing now. I’m a people person. I love hearing stories—inspiring stories—about people. We’re thrilled when Shane and other vendors set up at our farmers market and later become highly successful.

“It happened with Holcomb Hollow (a bakery in Mundelein), too,” she adds.

But the story of the late cookie lady from Lake Bluff, Peggy, truly captures the essence and warmth of the Lake Bluff Farmers Market. For years, Peggy was a runner in a Lake Bluff/Lake Forest group that stopped by the farmers market between 6:30-7 a.m.

“She’d give a cookie, usually an oatmeal raisin one, to each vendor every Friday morning,” Swanton recalls. “Vendors looked forward to seeing her and receiving a cookie from her every week. That’s Lake Bluff for you, filled with people like Peggy thinking of others and making sure they feel welcome. Our village has always been a super-friendly one.

“Peggy and her husband,” Swanton continues, “even renewed their wedding vows at the Village Green in Lake Bluff.”

Swanton’s husband, Frank “Pony” Swanton, had a major hand in Lake Bluff ’s very first Farmers Market while serving as a member of the Village Board three decades ago. Former Village of Lake Bluff President Frank Wacker appointed Mr. Swanton to the inaugural Farmers Market committee.

“Back in the day, only Lake Bluff, Evanston, Libertyville, and Grayslake, and maybe a couple of other nearby towns, put on farmers markets,” says Gridley Swanton, who wakes up at 5 a.m. on Farmers Market Fridays (19 every year). “Now there’s practically a farmers market on every corner. Our farmers market continues to be a strictly food-related one. To me, there’s nothing like the scent of fresh fruit, strawberries in particular, at our farmers market.”

Swanton grew up in Elkhart, Indiana, sang in the Elkhart High School choir, and pulled for every EHS Blue Blazers sports team. She majored in sociology at nowdefunct Barat College in Lake Forest and worked as a social worker for many years, first in Chicago with the Illinois Department of Public Aid and later in Waukegan.

She met her future husband for the first time at The Lantern in Lake Forest. They raised son Padraic and ran the Robertson Men’s Shop in Lake Forest for many years before it closed about 22 years ago. Padraic and his wife, Jennifer, live in Clarendon Hills and have three children (son Finnegan, 8, and 3-year-old twins Conor and Margot).

Gridley’s grandmother, Malvina, lived to be 107; Gridley’s mother, Margueritte, lived to be 105.

“My mother didn’t sweat the small stuff, and if she did, you’d never know it,” says the ageless Swanton, who loves to garden, travel, and cook and consume French fare. “My mother found a positive in everything.”

Shortly after taking over as Lake Bluff Farmers Market manager 12 years ago, Malvina’s daughter discovered a farmers market without the vision and resolute support of a village hall would be akin to staging a theatrical performance with half a cast and without a crew.

“The Lake Bluff Village Hall truly oversees our farmers market,” Swanton says. “The administrators take care of so many things for me and for our vendors. I can’t imagine doing what I do without their help.

“There wouldn’t be a Lake Bluff Farmers Market without Village Hall,” she adds.

For more information about the Lake Bluff Farmers Market and its vendors, visit lakebluff.org.