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Home ›Kee High School graduate Daniel Wagner receives Main Street Iowa award for restarting Lansing Farmer’s Market
by Julie Berg-Raymond
When, in 2021, Daniel Wagner - along with his Kee High School classmate at the time, Damon Weber - first came up with the idea of re-starting a farmer’s market in Lansing, Wagner was thinking it would be cool to buy the products of peoples’ hard work directly from the producers - whether they be handcrafted goods, or fresh-grown produce.
Little did Wagner know that a year and a half later he’d be taking home a prestigious state award for his work in bringing his and Weber’s initial idea to fruition. Friday, April 21, during the Main Street Iowa Development Awards ceremony held at Community Choice Credit Union Convention Center in Des Moines, Wagner received the Placemaking (Small Scale Activity) award for the Lansing Farmer’s Market project. The award recognizes efforts to help revitalize towns and communities through “placemaking” - described by Main Street America as “a community-led process that helps activate downtowns and community gathering places” (www.mainstreet.org).
“When I learned about the award that I had won, I was shocked,” Wagner says. “I had no idea that a small project would get such recognition as mine did. I feel proud knowing the larger cities in Iowa can see the hard work smaller towns put in to keeping our cities nice.”
Wagner is the son of Andy Wagner and Erica Krause-Wagner. He is a 2022 Kee graduate.
During the ceremony, Main Street Lansing also was recognized for two other achievements, including having reached a new million-dollar benchmark (private dollars invested in commercial district rehabilitation and property acquisition since the program’s inception), at $5 million. Additionally, Andrew Boddicker was honored with a Leadership Award, which recognizes inspirational leadership and volunteers who make significant contributions to the local Main Street program.
ABOUT THE PROJECT
“Dan came to the Innovation Lab, with fellow student Damon Weber, not sure what to do for a project,” says Ian Zahren, Kee High School vocal music instructor, volunteer on the Main Street Lansing economic vitality committee, and instructor of the Innovation class at Kee High. “The Innovation Lab, titled by the students, is a project-based incubator where students collaborate with each other and with area professionals to devise projects and innovate solutions to enhance their community. Projects for the Innovation Lab have ranged from business start-ups to publishing children’s books, to public art and the Lansing Farmer’s Market.”
The Innovation Lab meets at least an hour each day at Lansing Office Works, in downtown Lansing.
“This idea and project were started when the Innovation Lab first began,” Wagner says. “We started the class in school knowing that we’d be let out during one period of class to work on a project at the Innovation Lab. From the start, Ian had always asked us about something that bugged us about Lansing. I had always thought that the lack of a farmer’s market was what bugged me the most. That’s why I was determined to start the farmer’s market for Lansing and its visitors.”
Over the course of nine months, Wagner collaborated with the City of Lansing, Lansing Park and Recreation, The Iowa Food Hub, Main Street Lansing and Kerndt Brothers Bank and New Albin State Bank, to restart the farmer’s market.
“The market consists of nearly a dozen vendors and has a board that meets monthly and a functioning CSA (Community Supported Agriculture),” Zahren says. “The farmer’s market is successfully fulfilling the mission of providing residents with local food, supporting local farmers and increasing foot traffic on Main Street by 20 percent. A recent community survey ranked the Lansing Farmers Market as one of the top three amenities in the community. The Placemaking Award is a testament to Dan’s work and the belief that great things can and do happen in small places. As a teacher, I couldn’t be prouder.”
Wagner, who plans to attend a technical school for an auto mechanics degree, says he would like to thank anyone who helped him stay on the right track while he was working to start the farmer’s market. “Ian was my mentor, teaching me everything I had to do along the way. I could not have done it without him,” he says.
WHY THE PROJECT WAS NOMINATED
“I nominated the project for two reasons: partnerships and impact,” former Main Street Lansing Executive Director Andy Kelleher says. “The farmer’s market brought together numerous organizations, including the Kee High Innovation Lab, Main Street Lansing, the City of Lansing, the Lansing Parks and Recreation Board, Music in the Park, Wood Media, Kerndt Brothers Bank and the Allamakee County Community Foundation. These efforts combined to create an event with major impact.”
Kelleher says that attendance at the farmer’s market was the equivalent of 20 to 30 percent of the population of Lansing every time, and that downtown businesses reported foot traffic increases of 15 to 20 percent. “And the market has the impact of providing fresh, healthy food to the community. It does all of this through creating a sense of place at the market, which is why I knew it would be a great nomination for the Best Small-Scale Placemaking Activity in the state of Iowa.”
Kelleher recently resigned his position as Main Street Lansing Executive Director in order to complete his degree in International Relations and pursue related career opportunities. Main Street Lansing volunteer Andrew Boddicker was recently named the new executive director; he will begin that role in the organization July 10.
Kelleher says that Wagner was “the driving force behind the Lansing Iowa Farmer’s Market. He worked during his senior year to develop the structure, location and timing of the market. He selected a market manager and recruited a volunteer board of directors. As it moves into its second year, it’s clear that Daniel’s efforts have been successful.”
ABOUT THE LANSING FARMER’S MARKET
The Lansing Farmer’s Market is held at City Park on Front Street, just south of the City Sports Complex, from 4 to 6 p.m. every other Thursday. Dates for the 2023 season are June 1 and 15, July 6 and 20, August 3 and 17, and September 7 and 21. For more information about the farmer’s market, including how to become a vendor, see the advertisement on Page 6 of this week’s print edition and e-dition of The Standard.