Taste of Kalamazoo opens up the community network

Adam Debrowski
Western Herald

Chyn Wey Lee/Western HeraldAttendees to Taste of Kalamazoo browsing through selection of food offered by local restaurants during Taste of Kalamazoo 2009 at Arcadia Festival Site on Saturday, July 25.

For 23 years, the Taste of Kalamazoo festival has packed the palettes and treated the taste buds of thousands of Southwest Michiganders and visitors alike.

The event’s 24th year was not to be excluded.

The food festival, which ran from Thursday to Saturday at downtown’s Arcadia Creek site, featured everything from Authentic Malaysian to barbeque to Carribean at over 20 vendor tables.

“There’s so many countries to choose from here; it’s great,” said Stephanie Hannar, whose uncle owns Q It Up catering service. “It’s amazing how all these people can come together.”

Although the festival continued to provide an assorted cuisine for a plethora of visitors, it also presented one-of-a-kind business opportunities to the event’s vendors.

“Personally, the festival doesn’t bring in a lot of revenue, but it brings in a lot of networking,” Hannar said. “There are people who need catering and they’ll get the word out, even if they’ve never heard of us before.”

New customers will often call them to cater an event, simply based on what their experience at the festival, Hannar said.

The Taste of Kalamazoo also allowed the local vendors to gather in one place and get to know each other, an event that seldom occurs elsewhere, according to Colleen Carpenter.

“The camaraderie with all the other vendors is my favorite part,” Carpenter said. “The chance to rub elbows and meet and talk.”

Carpenter, who works for Martell’s Tavern, a Parkview Hills restaurant opening in September, also noted the “food trading” among vendors as another benefit to setting up shop.

“We have a little bartering system; we keep score. We make sure we trade the right amounts with each other,” Carpenter said.

Food and nourishment aside, however, one table at the Taste of Kalamazoo was linked to a bigger cause last weekend.

The 19th annual Greatest Kazoo Duck Race took place Saturday on Arcadia Creek, which runs near the Kalamazoo Valley Museum.

The proceeds of the rubber duck race went to “Journeys,” a program established by Hospice Care of Southwest Michigan to help children with grief and loss, said Ali Satkowski, a Hospice Care assistant.

“We provide hospice care and services, including grief support and counseling, to everyone based on their need, not necessarily their ability to pay,” Satkowski said. “That’s why we have fundraisers like the Duck Race: to help raise money for those without insurance.”

Hospice Care sold over 5,300 rubber ducks at $5 apiece last year.

For more information on the Taste of Kalamazoo, visit www.tasteofkalamazoo.com.For more information on Hospice Care of Southwest Michigan, visit www.hospiceswmi.org.