Retired Rockford City Market director Cathy McDermott, left, listens Friday, June 7, 2024, as Mayor Tom McNamara prepares to recognize her with a key to the city. To her right are longtime market vendors Aarti and Aakash Patel of Cantina Taco and Joe D’Astice of Woodfire Pizza. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
    By Kevin Haas
    Rock River Current
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    ROCKFORD — Mayor Tom McNamara on Friday bestowed his highest honor on Cathy McDermott, who built Rockford City Market from a fledging street market into a weekly destination.

    McDermott was surprised with a key to the city during a short ceremony recognizing the market’s 15th year.

    “To me, Cathy McDermott is the Rockford City Market,” McNamara said. “Someone who is incredibly dedicated, has passion beyond the beyond, someone who has given every single Friday and Saturday of her life for more than 14 years to this market so that everyone here can come and enjoy it.”

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    McDermott was a founding member of City Market when it began in 2010, and she served as its first director. She retired this year to a part-time role, but remains a Rock River Development Partnership board member and the treasurer of the Illinois Farmers Market Association.

    The market started as an initiative of Rock River Development Partnership, a nonprofit placemaking group founded in 2009 by former Mayor Larry Morrissey and SupplyCore President and CEO Peter Provenzano.

    It grew into a popular downtown destination, drawing more than 111,000 people during its peak season in 2019.

     

    It also helped jump-start multiple businesses, many of which have continued to serve at City Market after they grew into their own brick-and-mortar locations.

    “It is a place that people come to shop a little bit and then leave. It’s a place that business have started. It’s a place that businesses have expanded and went into brick-and-mortar locations,” McNamara said. “It’s a place friends come to meet old friends. It’s a place that Rockfordians are meeting new Rockfordians. It’s a place that people have probably met their future spouses at.

    “But I think, overall, it’s a place where a sense of community has been brought back to our city.”

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    A parking deck that was home to City Market in the early years was torn down in 2014 after it fell into disrepair. The city then helped finance the creation of a new surface lot and the outdoor pavilion you see today in 2015.

    Provenzano, chairman of the Rock River Development Partnership, said McDermott was the pulse of City Market before it even existed. He said it evolved into what it is today thanks to here persistence.

    On Friday, the market celebrated not only McDermott but also early vendors who have been a part of making it a success for years. They included: The Canine Crunchery, The Cheese People, Raines Honey Farm, Rucci’s Cinnamon Roasted Nuts, Cantina Taco, Crust & Crumbles, Lulu’s Roasted Corn, Prairie Street Brewing Co., Pig Minds Brewing Co. and Woodfire Pizza.

    For City Market visitors, those shops have been among the many reasons to stop at the market for years.

    But behind the scenes, McNamara said McDermott made the market work.

    “Cathy, you are the City Market,” McNamara said. “It would not be here without you.”


    This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on Twitter at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas

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