The village of Apsley and North Kawartha Township received a triple dose of good news on Friday afternoon (June 4), including two announcements improving local food security.
First, North Kawartha Mayor Carolyn Amyotte announced that Selwyn Township’s famous family the Leahys, who run a popular farmers’ market stand every summer beside their farm on Highway 28 near Lakefield, have opened a satellite location in Apsley.
The new location is a partnership between the Leahy family, Ball Real Estate, and Mary-Lyn and Phil Moore, owners of Calm N Ground — Apsley’s new coffee shop and eatery at 27 Burleigh Street, where the outdoor Leahy’s Farm & Market is located.
Open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. all summer long, Leahy’s Farm & Market offers fresh vegetables and fruit, baked goods, meat, and more to local residents and visitors. It’s located across the street from where Sayers Foods, the area’s only grocery store, stood before it was lost to a fire in December.
While Sayers Foods works to rebuild, the new market means Apsley and North Kawartha residents no longer have to travel to grocery stores outside of the area for some fresh food essentials during the summer. The market will also draw seasonal residents and visitors into Apsley, strengthening the local economy that has suffered from the loss of an anchor business.
The second piece of good news delivered on Friday were the results of the food drive for the North Kawartha Food Bank, held earlier in the day at Morello’s Your Independent Grocer in Peterborough.
Peterborough-Kawartha MPP Dave Smith, who helped organize the food drive with Kawartha Food Share, travelled to Apsley to announce the food drive had raised 3,000 pounds of food as well as $1,250 in cash donations and gift cards.
The final good news announcement saw Doug Leahy of the Leahy family and Greg Ball of Ball Real Estate each making donations to both Community Care Apsley and the Apsley Lions Club during the announcement.
“As your Mayor I am overjoyed to see such amazing support from within and outside North Kawartha,” Amyotte posted on Facebook following the three announcements.
“The spirit of cooperation and partnership to make our community the best it can be, just makes my heart burst.”
