Lansdale mourns loss of former Farmers’ Market manager Charisse McGill

LANSDALE — Area residents are mourning the loss of a Philadelphia area entrepreneur who left her mark on Lansdale. Charisse McGill, longtime manager of the Lansdale Farmers’ Market, died this week at age 42.

“I loved her. She was such a good person. She was, in my view, the soul of the Lansdale Farmers’ Market — she kept everything going,” said market volunteer Rege McKenzie.

“She was the face of the market for so many of our customers and farmers — greeting everyone with a smile, leading cooking demonstrations, and making announcements over the microphone,” said market board secretary Mallory Smith Peterson, who said McGill was the first person she met when she started volunteering at the market.

“Years after her career grew beyond the market, we still model some of our operations after her example,” she said.

McGill, who lived in Delaware County, worked as the market manager for the Lansdale Farmers’ Market from 2013 through 2018, and at the market debuted her Lokal Artisan Foods, which started as a lemonade stand infused with hand-selected herbs from fellow market vendor Kimberton CSA, run with help from McGill’s daughter Madison.

McKenzie said Friday that McGill “was all over the market, and it succeeded, largely because of her. She had the support of the vendors, and even if she had to do something to bring them in line, she knew how to do that artfully. She had a sophisticated approach to things, and that came through when it came time to work with the vendors — you could see, she could get them to do what needed to be done,” he said.

After leaving the market, McGill’s path took her onward and upward: she made news across the region by selling her French Toast Bites, under the Lokal Artisan Foods name, at Philadelphia’s Spruce Street Harbor Park in summer 2020, becoming the first Black female in the state of Pennsylvania to debut her own beer that winter, took those bites and beer into stores in 2021, and then evolved that taste into a gelato in 2022.

Her ongoing entrepreneurship earned her recognition from the Philadelphia 76ers just last year, as the 2023 honoree of the team’s annual 76ers Buy Black Program.

McGill was named the executive director of the Farmers Market Coalition, a national nonprofit committed to strengthening farmers markets, last July.

“I was stunned to learn of Charisse’s passing. She was such a bright light and will be missed by so many,” said longtime market board member Carol Zellers.

Will Reid, president of the market’s board of directors, said he knew McGill since starting at the market while she was manager in 2017, and she left a lasting imprint with all she knew.

“Her passion for the market was obvious and infectious. She ran the market efficiently and effectively and made it a point to know each of her vendors and their products. In our 12 years of participating in local farmers markets, she was one of the best managers we ever worked with.”

Lansdale Borough Council President Mary Fuller said Friday that she thought McGill “was a great hire by the Lansdale Farmer’s Market group and during her tenure here she seemed to take our market to an elevated level.  I thought she was friendly as well as dedicated to the Lansdale Farmers’ Market.”

In a post on Lokal’s Instagram page Thursday, the company she founded announced McGill’s passing, saying she “was an inspiration to our immediate and French Toast Bites families and all her friends — and to her fans, students, partners and colleagues in Philadelphia and across America.”

“During this time, we ask for time, compassion and grace — and we want you to know we appreciate all of the love, support and condolences as we mourn this tragic loss. French Toast Bites and Lokal Artisan Foods will continue to operate in Charisse’s memory. Venues will remain open and partnerships will continue,” said Lokal, adding that details about a public memorial would be posted on that account.

Kory Aversa, McGill’s friend and spokesman, said Friday that McGill is survived by her daughter Madison (Maddie) McGill, mother Tina Jackson, father Maurice Davidson, and extended family, and “holds a huge place in so many of our hearts and she will deeply be missed.”