KINGSTON — When Cindi Dudley stepped down from the position of president on the Kingston Farmers Market Board of Directors last summer, she wasn’t sure who would be taking her place. She did, however, know she wanted the next person in charge to have a similar vision in ensuring the market would continue on its current successful path.

She soon ran into Kingston Farmers Market co-founder and former board member Mary McClure at a local grocery store and the women started talking. Dudley walked away from their conversation thinking how great it would be if McClure became president. McClure walked away considering the position.

“It just melded perfectly with my feeling about the market,” Dudley said of McClure’s thoughts on the making sure the seasonal gathering of musicians, crafters, artists and farmers continued to prosper.

Initially, it never entered McClure’s mind to go for the job, she said, as she assumed the leadership would fall to someone who was currently active within the market.

But McClure is no stranger to the scene. She was one of the founding members of KFM, being one of three, along with Marcia Adams and Cathy Wartez, who signed the incorporation papers in 1989 and started the market in 1990. McClure was also market manager for three seasons, as well as a board chair before she stepped down.

“It was clear it was time to move on,” she said of her initial departure from the board 1993, noting the organization’s foundation had been built on sustainability rather than just the personalities operating the market, the former she attributes to the market’s success today.

When McClure first moved to Kitsap County in 1989, she quickly realized it was special because she recognized the community of people that had such a strong connectedness to the land through farming and artistry, even though she wasn’t a gardener, artist or farmer herself. But she saw the potential positive impact the market could have on the community.

“I thought it was a tremendous community building (project),” she said.

In the early 1990s, she was also collaborating with others on organizing “Kingston Happenings” — art walks, beach walks, teen dances, knitting expos — as way to bring people together to recognize the unique folks that live in the area.

The whole idea was to build upon the fabric of the community and that idea continues today, she said, noting the Kingston Quilt Shop holds classes and Stillwaters Environmental Education Center is constantly holding events and providing volunteer opportunities.

And to have McClure come back after all this time and have the community and market heading in the same direction it was when she left is a big deal, Dudley said.

McClure is interested in working with the Port of Kingston as it proceeds with plans to make upland improvements at Mike Wallace Memorial Park.

“It’s not a question of if, it’s a question of how,” she said of the potential of the market relocating during the port’s construction.

The market needs continuity, both women agreed. It can’t be shut down while the port goes through facility changes and McClure wants to review temporary locations, such as the Village Green.

Transition between leaders is always a tender time for an organization but KFM planned for it in the early 1990s, McClure said. The organization was sturdy enough to withstand its first changes in leadership and it will work this time too, McClure is convinced. The big goal is just to retain the continuity.

The challenge now is to determine how and where is the market going to grow and dealing with those challenges as they come up as well as look into grants and partnerships and research more about supporting the local community agriculture industry.

“There’s a lot more going on now than in 1990,” McClure said.

As for Dudley, she’s still getting used to the fact she doesn’t have to deal with the pre-market season administrative work and can be simply a vendor for Dudley Farm.

“Sometimes I think you have to let go and things happen like they are supposed to,” Dudley said. “It’s been different to watch the wind up and not be involved.”