Photos Provided Gracefully Gluten-Free Owner Laura Chaney will sell a variety of gluten-free baked goods at the first Wheeling Farmers’ Market for the summer season.

WHEELING — The Wheeling Farmers’ Market will kick off its summer season this Saturday, celebrating more than 70 years of providing residents with fresh, locally grown food.

The inaugural summer farmers’ market will be held on Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon at the St. Michael Church Parking Lot at 1225 National Road. The market will continue every Saturday at the same location through October.

The Wheeling Farmers’ Market was first registered with the state as a business in 1955, and its vendors will celebrate its 70th birthday this weekend. Wheeling Farmers’ Market Secretary Laura Chaney estimates that local markets were occurring in the area much earlier.

“We know that the market has been here for over 70 years since the first recorded one was in 1955,” Chaney said. “Some tax records indicate that it has been occurring in and out of the valley for much longer than that. No matter the anniversary date, we want to celebrate the milestone and make it special for our customers.”

Chaney owns Gracefully Gluten-Free, a business that sells gluten-free baked goods, including cakes, cupcakes, breads and pastries. Her business has been selling at the market for the past two years.

Glacefully Gluten-Free will be one of eight local growers selling at Saturday’s market. Vendors at the market will include the Big Run Baking Company, the Cookie Jar, Cookie Culprit, the Blended Homestead and Flower Hill Farms.

The eight vendors will sell a variety of goods at the market, including produce, eggs, honey, jam, apple butter, ramp salt, sourdough bread, gourmet cookies and flowers.

Chaney said customers can anticipate more produce vendors at future markets as more fruits and vegetables become in season. She said squash, zucchinis, corn and green beans will soon be available.

“Bluebird Organic Farms is a vendor at our Mother’s Day Pop-Up Market last week with rhubarb and asparagus,” Chaney said. “They are one of our vendors that will have more produce for customers in the upcoming weeks.”

While this is the first summer farmers’ market, the Wheeling Farmers’ Market has held various pop-up markets in the off-season. Chaney noted that the turnout for these has been “amazing,” with some of the vendors at their Mother’s Day Farmers’ Market selling out.

“Myself, The Cookie Culprit and a few other vendors sold out because it was a beautiful day and people knew it was our last pop-up market,” Chaney noted. “They literally flooded that parking lot, and it was a wonderful market.”

Chaney hopes the Wheeling Farmers’ Market’s summer season will continue to have high attendance numbers similar to the pop-up markets this year. She noted the importance of residents continuing the market’s tradition of supporting local growers and mom-and-pop stores.

Chaney added that all the goods sold at the market “come right from the Ohio Valley.”

“It’s better to shop local because you know where your food’s coming from, unlike what you buy at a store,” Chaney said. “It’s really important to support local farmers as well because that allows us to continue to have the farmers’ market for everybody. We want to continue past this anniversary milestone to provide fresh goods for the valley.”