A memorial fund has been established for Jeffrey Langfelder, the late co-founder of the Sandy Springs Farmer Market. And each market will now be opened in a new tradition of ringing a bell made in memory of Langfelder, who died in 2017.
The Jeffrey Langfelder Sandy Springs Farmers Market Memorial Fund will be used to support vendors and programming at the market. The fund will be administered by Heritage Sandy Springs, City Councilmember and festival co-founder Andy Bauman said in an email to residents and friends.
In 2010, Langfelder and Bauman created the farmers market at what is now City Springs. The market quickly became one of the city’s most popular annual events. The duo handed off operations to the nonprofit Heritage Sandy Springs in 2014.
The bell has been engraved with the words “The Sandy Springs Farmers Market Opening Bell – in Memory of Jeffrey Langfelder,” Bauman said.
The bell will be rung for the first time at the May 11 market by Langfelder’s wife, Elizabeth, son Evan and daughter Rebecca.
“The ringing of a bell is a traditional way to open markets (not just the NYSE [New York Stock Exchange]!), and this will be a very nice way to remember Jeff each and every Saturday morning at the market,” Bauman wrote.
In the following weeks, Heritage Sandy Springs, which manages the market, will select individuals, families, vendors and friends of the market to ring the bell.
The market is held at 220 Mount Vernon Highway each Saturday until Dec. 14. It starts at 8:30 a.m. until October, when it moves to 9 a.m. For more information, visit heritagesandysprings.org.