With this 11th issue, The Accidental Reporter widens its lens for good. The Farmers' Market will always be part of the story — but it was really just the beginning. Starting now, the paper sets out to introduce readers to the people, businesses, places, traditions and ideas that make the whole Trumansburg community distinctive: the independent business owners who know customers by name, the artists and teachers and volunteers, the generations of families with stories to tell, and the newcomers still finding their footing. Some of it unfolds on Main Street. Some of it happens on country roads, in studios, kitchens, and backyards. All of it is part of the larger picture.
This issue's first taste of that expanded mission: an Inside Scoop that takes the paper's weekly question off the market grounds entirely. Pakiza Aminulakyzy asked ten different Trumansburg residents the same thing — "what's your favorite food place beyond the market?" — and got ten genuinely different answers. Atlas Bowl came up more than once ("it's a bowling alley, but they make very good food there"). Pizza had its defenders. A newcomer couple, only on their second visit to town, picked Little Venice as the one place they'd tried so far and loved it. And one answer landed harder than the rest: asked about a day-to-day favorite, a longtime resident named Main Street Market — "it warms my heart every time."
It warms my heart every time. — A Trumansburg resident, on Main Street Market
Steady rain thinned the crowds but not the vendors. Cider from forgotten apple trees, a $30 hot dog joke, and a tablecloth stain that "represented the market perfectly."
Read the issue →Behind every Wednesday market sits a Village board, a fundraising Friends group, and a nonprofit fiscal sponsor — and a jewelry vendor who can't unbend a paperclip.
Read the issue →An orange tent hands out $25 in Market Dollars to anyone who asks. A wine tasting with Boland Thomas Vineyards, and a soggy set from Richie Stearns and Friends.
Read the issue →Inside the Library Space's evolution from book cart to craft tent, plus tinsel braiding, herbal tinctures, and a chicken bowl worth standing in line for.
Read the issue →The etymology of midweek motivation, Silo's Telekinetic Chicken, energetic jazz from MSZM, and market regulars Gabby and Hughie making their dog-friendly Wednesday rounds.
Read the issue →The Accidental Reporter launches a new weekly feature — one question, one answer, one story at a time — and formally introduces reporters Cadan and Pakiza.
Read the issue →Margaret Shepard has booked every market musician since 2011. Plus Crosswinds Farm's cow-named cheeses, On The Street Pita's Grateful Dead origins, and the market's first Community Q&A.
Read the issue →Cadan Ziemba passes the torch to Pakiza Aminulakyzy as the paper turns its focus to the community's whole food system — farms, restaurants, CSAs, and pantries alike.
Read the issue →The market widens its lens to every visitor, not just vendors, while Cadan spends his real last week collecting food memories and Three Stone Farm's homesteading story.
Read the issue →Pakiza writes about finding home at the market as a recent immigrant, and the Inside Scoop asks longtime visitors why they keep coming back, week after week.
Read the issue →The paper officially widens its lens beyond the market, starting with ten residents answering one question: what's your favorite food place in Trumansburg?
Read the issue →An orange tent by the stone steps hands out no-questions-asked Market Dollars to anyone experiencing economic difficulty — spendable on anything in the market, from produce to soap to a Chicago dog. It runs on donations, and this season's funds are on pace to run out before the market closes on October 28.
More than thirty farms, wineries, food producers, artisans, and local businesses set up under the pavilions each week. Here's who's currently on the roster — find them, follow them, or just go say hi on Wednesday.
Got a question for The Accidental Reporter, a vendor we should meet, or a Wednesday moment worth writing down? This is the tip line. Cadan reads every one.
Story ideas, corrections, and "you should really talk to so-and-so" tips are all welcome — that's how most of these issues started in the first place.
This edition of The Accidental Reporter is made possible with the support of our local community partners.