More than half a decade ago, Dennis Moffat organized the first-ever Red Deer Public Market.
"Fifty-four years has gone by like it was nothing," Moffat said.
"I can remember the very first day. ... At the first one, we had 11 vendors. It was down at the old fairgrounds and it was fun. There have been a lot of good memories (over the years).
"The whole idea behind the market was to bring money to Red Deer and to bring people to Red Deer. It was kind of a throwback to Red Deer's early days when it was a more rural community. When it first started, I went to every one of the grocery stores and said, 'If we affect your sales (negatively), I'll close it down.' But they said, 'Our sales increase when you're here.' It was a win-win. It's been beneficial for the city."
The 54th season of the Red Deer Public Market wrapped up on Saturday, Oct. 12. This was the second season at Red Deer Polytechnic, after many years in the city's downtown area. The market is held every Saturday from May long weekend to Thanksgiving and provides a space for producers and vendors to sell their products to Central Albertans.
"It's so comfortable here (at RDP)," said Moffat.
"The aisles between vendors are wider, so there are no problems if customers have baby carriages. It's the perfect place. The parking is unlimited and it's free — that's important."
While retired from leading the market now, Moffat still attends the market and interacts with both vendors and customers.
"All of these people seem like family to me. When they're here, they're my family," said Moffat
The market is now co-managed by his children Patrick and Fiona Moffat.
"The first year at RDP kind of told us this was the right place for us to be," said Patrick Moffat.
"This year we had a slight increase in numbers, for vendors and attendees. In talking with a lot of the customers, we noticed there were a lot more people from outside of Red Deer coming to the market. We've seen customers and vendors from the Calgary and Edmonton areas. That's a good sign in what we're doing."
Patrick said the market has had a long-lasting impact on the community.
"I was talking to one of the vendors this morning, who had her young daughter with her. I told her this was our 54th year. The girl, who was 10 or 11, looked at her mom and said, 'Fifty-four years? That's one more than grandma.' It makes you realize just how long it's been here," he said.
This year had "almost perfect" weather, he added.