Rain and chilly weather couldn’t dampen the spirits or hunger of residents who came out to a Taste of Evesham on May 19.
According to Sandy Student, organizer and member of the Evesham Celebrations Foundation, more than 2,200 people came out to the event.
“Even in not great weather, people wanted to come out,” Student said. “We were very happy so many people came out.”
More than 20 local restaurants and businesses lined Main Street for an all-you-can-eat block party presented by the Evesham Celebrations Foundation, a non-profit organization that organizes community events.
The event took 11 months to coordinate, Student said.
This was the first year cooking demonstrations were provided for guests by local chefs and students from Burlington County College’s culinary program.
“One of the chefs, a Marlton resident, was actually showing people how to cook breakfast the night before so they’re not scrambling in the morning,” Student said.
In addition to the cooking demonstrations, guests were able to taste Bertucci’s, Zoe’s Kitchen and Cibo, which were among the new establishments to provide samples at the event.
Residents carried umbrellas and wore jackets to battle the non-stop misting, which didn’t show on the weather radar as rain, Student said.
“It’s amazing to me, there are people all over the place. They love it, they planned for it,” Student said.
Additionally, he said, vendors had no intention of cancelling and were more than happy to cater to guests.
“This is why we’re one of the top places to live,” Student said. “People paid $10 for the best block party in the word. People love the sense of community in Marlton.”
Mayor Randy Brown takes pride in the community, further emphasizing that events like this are for residents to feel appreciated.
Most recently, residents were treated to a Philadelphia Soul Town Takeover, free of charge to play football with the arena football athletes.
“We wanted to bring the community out. We wanted to make Evesham one of the most attractive places to live, and this is one way we do it,” Brown said of the events.
According to Brown, the mission of the ECF was to bring community back into town.
“Even when the weather is average, at best, people still love to come out to events like this,” Brown said.
Brown saw the event as a way to remind residents to keep business in town and help the economy, a detail Brown has been working on with the council.
“I think the economy is improving. We have more houses for sale and housing prices going up. We have people spending money more frequently,” Brown said. “You go out and see people waiting to go out to eat and see people waiting an hour to two hours. That’s how you gauge it.”
According to Brown, any time community projects are built, the community will stand behind the council.
“We want to make it the best place to live,” Brown said. “It gives you more and more reasons why this is a great place to live.”
The next event will be the Independence Day Celebration, which begins at 7 a.m. with the Mayor’s 5k and goes through to 9 p.m., ending with fireworks at Cherokee High School.
To learn more about the ECF and the upcoming events, visit http://www.eveshamcelebrations.org/events/independence-day-celebration.
