PHOTO BY JOHN FRYMAN / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
CHECKING IN … Montpelier Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Kelly Herzog and 2025 Miss Montpelier, Caddisy Chamberlain help check in ticket holders for the Harvest of Sweets Walk held on Saturday, October 25.
By: John Fryman
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
john@thevillagereporter.com
It was a perfect fall afternoon for people who were shopping to support local businesses but also an opportunity to participate in the first annual Harvest of Sweets Walk held in downtown Montpelier on Saturday, October 24.
The event, sponsored by the Montpelier Area Chamber of Commerce, featured food, music and shopping while stopping at one of the 24 participating Montpelier downtown businesses to obtain a sweet treat at each stop.
Montpelier Area Chamber of Commerce executive director Kelly Herzog said the idea of having the Harvest of Sweets Walk began with a group of businesswomen discussing ways to promote the town.
“We came up with the idea of having a chocolate walk,” said Herzog. “But once we decided that it was going to be held in the fall, so we called it the Harvest of Sweets Walk.”
After coming up with the neat fall-themed idea, Herzog began contacting local businesses to see if they wanted to partake and hand out a goodie to all of the ticket holders.
The chamber had sold only 185 tickets for the first-time event. Herzog admitted that she felt she could have sold more tickets, though she had to turn a few people away after the tickets were all gone.”
“We had to have some type of a count to give to the vendors because a lot of them made homemade treats,” she added.
After picking up their ticket and maps for the Harvest of Sweets Walk, participants would venture to each participating business where they collected a stamp from them.
Once they collected all 24 stamps, participants turned in the completed map to the Chamber tent located at Founders Park where they were entered into a drawing to win a gift basket filled with goodies from all 24 businesses participating.
Businesses who were participating were Kommon Kravings, Main Stop, Fackler Monument, Evergreen Health, Casa Del Rey, Olde Tyme Holiday, Kannel Insurance, Civic League Farmers Market, Heart at Home, Cookies on Demand, Edward Jones Investments, St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, Wispy Willow Farm, Patty Cakes, Beehive Designs, Embellished Gifts, Hair Station, Maraud Village, WesBanco, KZ Design, Hair Fashions, F&M Bank and Still Oven Bakery.
One of Herzog’s goals for next year’s Harvest of Sweets Walk is to sell more tickets.
“This has been just overwhelming, and the response has been great,” admitted Herzog in describing this year’s Harvest of Sweets Walk.
“The weather was perfect, but I wished that I could have sold more tickets. We’re going to continue to have these events and utilize the businesses, utilize the parks, and just get people into Montpelier.”