DUNDEE, Ore. — A new farmers market is preparing to open in Dundee on Sunday, June 14, offering locals and tourists alike a place to pick up produce, honey, bread and local art at Tipsu Palach Park, across the street from the Dundee Hotel.
The Hills Farmers Market came about when Dundee residents Bethany Caruso and Adriana St. Peter saw a gap in their community — no place for residents to gather weekly to shop and connect.
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Caruso, who moved to Dundee in 2013 after growing up in Newberg, has spent much of the past few years focused on building community in Dundee. In addition to owning a floral business and raising five children, she is a project manager at Destination Dundee, leader of Dundee Main Street, a member of the Travel Dundee board, community liaison for the Terrain Hotel Dundee, and a leader of the local Safe Routes to School initiative. The market, she said, works in tandem with all of them.
“We didn’t receive any resistance to starting the market,” she said. “It almost felt like it was an oversight in town. It’s like people said, ‘of course we should have a market like this, why don’t we already?'”
Dundee has seen a collection of farmer’s markets over the years, most recently a Friday Night market in 2021 previously operated at the Sander Estate. Caruso said it never gained traction, competing with Newberg’s Wednesday Market and McMinnville’s farmers market on the the days prior.
With The Hills, the organizers are being more deliberate. They said they spoke with neighboring businesses to determine which day would be most beneficial and sought a time when families might be looking for something to do together.
They landed on Sunday — a day that avoids competition with other prominent markets in the area and doesn’t add to an already busy Saturday. Tourists can stop at the market to pick up last-minute goods before leaving town, and residents can make it a weekly stop for groceries and connection with neighbors.
Caruso said they are aiming for a grocery-heavy vendor mix. She said she hopes locals will make it a weekly stop to pick up fruits and vegetables, bread, eggs and honey, as well as coffee to drink while walking around and beans to take home.
“This is a community effort,” Caruso said. “We’re not driven by profit or anything like that. We’re driven by how this is going to impact our community and creating a space for not just our residents but our guests to enjoy, and that they can take something from their experience in that day at home, we don’t have a lot of that.”
The Hills Farmers Market will run Sundays from June 14 through Sept. 27, 9 a.m. to noon, at Tipsu Palach Park in Dundee. More information is available on The Hills Farmers Market Instagram page.
