May 31, 2016 at 8:20 a.m.
Remembering Doug: Bench dedicated in memory of Hodag Farmers' Market leader
Remembering Doug: Bench dedicated in memory of Hodag Farmers' Market leader
By Kayla Thomason-
Family and friends gathered to remember Doug Jacobson and dedicate a bench in his honor.
Jacobson, who was part of the market's leadership team for many years, passed away Oct. 2, 2015.
The 8-foot bench is made of recycled plastic and features a plate with an image of Jacobson engraved in it set into the backrest.
"We kind of felt, because he's done a lot and been involved and engaged in the community for so many years through his participation in the Lions Club and his participation here in the Farmers' Market, that it just seemed like a more suitable dedication to him to put a bench at the park," his son Jonathan Jacobson said. "Where it's located overlooks where the Farmers' Market is currently."
In addition to his career as a landscape architect for the U.S. Forest Service, Jacobson was active in both the Rhinelander Lions Club and the Hodag Farmers' Market.
According to his family, Jacobson loved the outdoors, raising cattle, chickens and pigs, and gardening.
He retired in 1989 and began to focus heavily on gardening. He was considered a master gardener due to the quality and quantity of the produce he grew and the knowledge he possessed, according to his family.
He brought business skills to the organization and helped give it guidance, market officials said.
"When (Doug) first came on he gave the ad hoc committee a more professional direction in that first of all we have to make money as farmers, as growers," said Steve Richardson, a member of the Board of Directors.
"Not everybody, in fact only one or two people on that committee, were actual growers, the rest were community members and he gave us the focus," Richardson added.
"When we started the farmers market there were no large growers, no appreciable agriculture. All of Oneida County, outside of some larger potato growers like Kuczmarski and Sowinski, that was it. Now we have not just weekend gardeners, we have people who are cultivating acres and acres of organic and otherwise healthy vegetable and fruits."
Jacobson enjoyed gardening so much that he continued to sell produce even after he fell ill last year.
"My dad was a big vendor there, he had a really big garden," said Jonathan Jacobson. "He worked super hard and did real well with that. He always had a ton of produce."
Jacobson sold corn stalks, corn, carrots, beets, kale, potatoes, beans and radishes to customers.
"He enjoyed meeting the people, being part of the community and getting that going," Jonathan Jacobson said.
He praised his father's advanced thinking.
"He's done so much for the community and been a part of it for so many years and this was a significant turning point - I think - his having the foresight to see that ... there was a trend toward locally-grown produce. He had the foresight for that back in the early '90s," he said.
"I think a lot of the customers, patrons of the Farmers' Market, they kind of like the green market thing and whatever, but I think for the most part he could see that coming but he was more so interested in 'let's just grow some fruits and vegetables of our own and make them available,'" Jacobson added.
Doug Jacobson was also known to trade his produce for other things.
"He was very generous, he gave a lot of stuff away," Jonathan Jacobson said. "He was always willing to barter or trade or he'd always bring over a pail of cucumbers or he'd give you some corn in exchange for something. He was real generous too, if somebody was in need and somebody needed something and it was clear they were either out of vouchers or whatever. He had a real soft heart so he gave a lot of people some help."
Hodag Farmers' Market opens 2016 season
After months of tender care vendors were able to sell a variety of early-season vegetables range-fed chickens, pastured eggs laid by free-range hens, goat cheese, baked goods and a few crafts at the first market of the season.
"It'll be a nice spring selection for salads," said Richardson.
To his knowledge over 10,000 square feet of new gardens have been put under plastic and glass for year-round production.
"This is why we are opening so early," Richardson said. "We have the produce."
He added that the farmers are becoming more and more sophisticated each year and are finding ways to stretch the growing season.
Despite those innovations, the crops are still seasonal.
In June and July, customers will find tomatoes, cucumbers and beans. Toward the end of the season the produce will shift from sweet corn to squash, pumpkins and other fall crops.
"It's locally grown so the market evolves with the season," Richardson said.
He recommends people arrive early in the day for the best selections.
At the height of the season (end of July through October) the Farmers' Market will have a couple dozen vendors filling over 300 linear feet with fresh produce, Richardson said.
"I think (the Hodag Farmers' Market) really achieved what (dad) thought of a vision for it," said Jonathan Jacobson. "I know that he was very pleased with where it was at even a year ago."
Kayla Breese may be reached at [email protected].
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