Lively Market, campground continue growing

Photo: Jim and Marley Lively

By Ross Boissoneau

Sun contributor

As the Lively NeighborFood Market on M-72 east of Empire prepares to enter year two, owner Jim Lively continues to build on its success by increasing the store’s stock, as well as making improvements at the campground. Don’t forget the music, and it just recently received word that funding for its solar array has been approved.

It sounds like a lot to take on. And it is, but that’s just the way he wants it. With his daughter Jane operating the community-supported vegetable and flower farm in front, and his daughter Emily in charge of the campground and music festival, last year Lively decided to open a market to serve the area. The longtime director of program strategy at Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities had worked with the nonprofit in a variety of areas, include food and farming and clean energy.

Starting a farm market could be seen as a logical next step, but that doesn’t mean it was an easy one. While the onsite pavilion already had a commercial kitchen, Lively had to build out the rest of the site, then get the myriad approvals to open. Originally envisioning a Memorial Day weekend opening last year, the doors didn’t open until mid-August.

Now, though the market is up and running, there is work to be done on the campground, starting with the installation of electricity. That’s become his responsibility as Emily has left the area (more on that below). He is installing electric service in the front section of the campground, between the farm and the market, to serve RV sites of various sizes.

Behind the market there will be 13 additional sites, including two cabins with electric. Lively says he plans for additional electric service in the future. It’s also been renamed, from Backyard Burdickville Campground to Lively Acres Campground, in keeping with Lively NeighborFood Market and Lively Farm.

That’s not the only electrifying news. Lively finally received notification that federal funding for installation of solar panels, which had been frozen as of inauguration day, has now been approved. He will be working with the non-profit Michigan Saves to get a loan, after which the solar supplier will come out to assess the roof, where Lively intends to install the panels. “You’ve got to pay the total up front,” he says, before the federal funding will rebate 50 percent of his cost.

The hope is that installation will take place this summer to help mitigate the increased cost of electricity he anticipates with the use of it by those at the campground.

Then there’s the music. For years, the property was the site of daughter Emily’s LivelyLands boutique music festival. She has since moved to Mackinaw City and is working on events for Mackinac Island, so Lively stepped into the breach there as well. So goodbye LivelyLands, hello Neighbor Fest. The site will host a concert for and by neighbors this spring. And where one daughter leaves, another comes in: Marley now works as store manager at the market, freeing up Lively’s time to work on the campground and music, which he calls a big deal for the site.

“Five years ago (when they bought the property from the Eagles) there was a prohibition on all music,” Lively says, other than the three previously approved days. “We went back (to the township) regarding two permitted uses provided by right.”

Lively says a five-month back-and-forth with Kasson Township resulted in approval for accessory music for two approved uses: restaurant service and other public or semi-public uses. The former will include farm-to-table dinners the market will host. Lively says those events – he’s not sure how many this year – will feature guest chefs for reservation-only dinners.

As to the latter, he says defining public or semi-public events is hard to do. “It’s a big list,” he says, but could include stargazing parties, a storytelling event and other gatherings. They could take place indoors or outdoors (though, as he wryly points out, stargazing parties are much better held outside).

The campground still holds a permitted use for three outdoor amplified one-day music events. “We’ll do one this year for sure,” Lively says, starting with the inaugural Neighbor Fest on May 25. Lively says the free show is a way to give back to the community that has supported the market, including those who donated through the GoFundMe crowdfunding effort.

The lineup includes a number of local bands. It starts at 2 p.m. with the Burdickville Boys, who are followed by Clint Weaner, Sundogs, Jake the Dog and Luke Woltanski. The Stray Dogs close the show. While admittance is free, the LIFT after-school program for teens will be selling fresh food onsite, including hot dogs and burgers sourced from nearby farms. “Neighbor Food for Neighbor Fest,” says Lively.

The show will also serve as the monthly fundraising concert for the Empire Area Emergency Fund. A collection will also be taken throughout the day for the non-profit, which provides funding and assistance for families with short-term emergency needs. “I hope Neighbor Fest is an annual event, a free picnic kind of thing,” Lively says. “Bring a lawn chair, your own beer and wine.”

Lively promises more growth in the years to come. Ultimately, that will require a larger septic system, which will dictate in large part how to further distribute the electric service in back. “We will need a larger drainfield. We want to know where the drainfield will go before running electric,” he says.