The West Dublin Market

Story by Alex Hickey 
The story of “Stone Soup” is about a community gathering 
and pooling their resources to make a delicious, nourishing soup together, when individually none of them have enough food to make a meal for themselves. The story of the West Dublin Community Market is similar: a group of people banding together to create a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. 
The first necessary ingredient was the West Dublin Community Hall itself. The hall is a classic example of a Nova Scotian community space that was built with care using local materials over 100 years ago. 
Around 2010, events at the hall were occasional, fitting in with the needs of the community. Then, random circumstance brought together a handful of people who had decided to move back home to Nova Scotia and settled near the hall. They shared an enthusiasm for creating events at the hall, including a community market that everyone in the area could enjoy.
The market started small, occurring a few times, with just a few vendors, in 2011. Over the next three summers the market grew to a bustling hall full of vendors and customers meeting every Saturday morning from spring to fall. “Nine-ish to noon-ish” the marketeers sometimes say, capturing the relaxed spirit of the market and of the community itself. 
The market provides an opportunity to vendors to sell baked goods and crafts, soaps and herbal teas, vegetables and eggs. 
The market has been a driver of economic development in the area. “It allowed us to incubate our skills and our clientele,” says Stefan Kirkpatrick. He and his partner Desirée Gordon have been selling their pastries and sourdough bread at the West Dublin Market for seven years. Four years ago, they started their bakery and dairy bar, Ploughman’s Lunch, just around the corner from the West Dublin Hall. “Having this community hold our hands while we got our feet under us — we were able to open our store.” 
For many new arrivals to the area, the West Dublin Market has been their starting point for meeting people and building a sense of community. On Saturday mornings at the West Dublin Hall, you will find kids running around and playing together. People from different age groups and backgrounds chat and laugh together about their interests and their daily lives. The market is a place to hatch plans for work parties and projects and to share ups and downs and joys and sorrows. 
The stone soup of the market is made up of hugs and open hearts, skills and tenacity, growth and tradition. It’s about building something together. It’s about growing and sharing and being together. And it feels like home.
Inquiries about the West Dublin Market can be directed to Kerriann Croft at uttuguru@gmail.com.