2007-2008 Accomplishments 

            These committees were instrumental in supplying a full calendar of events since the last annual report:  

4^TH ANNUAL DOWNTOWN NEWARK FOOD & BREW FEST

  

 

 

Saturday, July 14^, 2007 

For one day only, in honor of American Beer Month (July), 12 Downtown
Newark Restaurants opened their doors to Craft Breweries!  This year’s
theme is Beers From Around the World.  

Participating restaurants were:  Caffe Gelato; Cucina di Napoli; Deer Park
Tavern; East End Cafe; Grotto Pizza; Home Grown; Iron Hill Brewery;
Klondike Kates; Pat's Pizzeria & MVP; Shaggy's on Main; Santa Fe; and
The Saigon Restaurant.   Featured breweries include:  Affligem; Blue Moon;
Carib; Dogfish Head; Fischer; Iron Hill; Kalik; Molson; Moretti; Murphy's;
Source; Stewart's; Paulaner; Red Stripe; Twin Lakes; and Yuengling.  The
event also offered brew tasting, food specials, prize drawings, give-always
and entertainment!  WJBR will also be present.  A day-of-event itinerary
will be available at the restaurants and at an information booth at 
Wilmington Trust Company's Main Street branch.  

Adding to the fun – this all day event also featured the popular “Hops and Shops” Sidewalk Sale Extravaganza showcasing the goods and wares offered by
Downtown merchants beginning at noon, as well as balloon decorations,
strolling musicians and sidewalk chalk artistry.  FREE parking (both
meters and municipal lots) was provided as well as a trolley shuttle
around the downtown area.  

Bike and Blues Festival

 

On Saturday, August 18 2007, Downtown Newark roared to life with the Bike and Blues Festival.  Main Street was lined with chrome for the evening, while the air was filled with the sounds of local blues musicians for the Bike & Blues Festival from 2 – 9:30 PM.  This one time event featured more than 500 motorcycle enthusiasts from all over the region and as far away as Tennessee and Florida who participated in the bike show and parade, and enjoyed great music!  Unlike previous rallies held in downtown, this event was not restricted solely to Harley-Davidson riders.  Organizers wanted to put together an event in which all riders of 2 or 3 wheel vehicles could gather for a very worthwhile cause and have a great time regardless of the brand name on their bikes.

 

All proceeds from the festival benefited those recovering from motorcycle accidents.  A donation of $20 per person to the Motorcycle Accident Victims Foundation was requested to ensure riders and non-riders alike receive all of the festival benefits and had access to all areas of the event.  Those not desiring to donate to the cause could still enjoy the festival because much of the event was held on Main Street and the Academy Building Lawn –and free to the public.

 

Special events planned in Newark during the festival included a downtown ride in bike show for which many main street parking meters were reserved for motorcycle parking only, creating an extended display of bikes and showcasing some of the world’s most spectacular motorcycles for all to enjoy; and a custom motorcycle parade through Newark which began and ended at the Newark Shopping Center on East Main Street on a route planned by the City of Newark Police Department.  Police officers from all over the State and surrounding areas volunteered to assist the Newark Police Department in leading the parade and Newark Fire Police  secured all intersections for safe parade passage without closing the street or any intersections for longer than necessary for the parade to pass.   Downtown merchants supported the parade which looped the downtown area twice, creating yet another free attraction on Main Street.  The parade lasted about 30 minutes, and stretched for more than a mile.   The second pass of the parade kicked off the blues festival portion of the event that stretched from the Newark Shopping Center to the Academy Building Lawn.  Closing Ceremonies and Awards Presentation took place in the Newark Shopping  

While the event was successful and a lot of fun as an event, it did not fit into the event organizer’s (MAV) vision of a fund-raiser for their organization.  The downtown district is open to all, and they were really looking for a venue to allow selective and paid admission.  In addition, some concerns were raised amongst the citizenry regarding hosting the event in downtown Newark, and therefore, it was decided that MAV should hold their 2008 event in another location.

2007 Community Day

The 2007 Community Day event, planned and executed by the Newark Parks and Recreation Department, assisted by DNP volunteers, was held on Sunday, September 16, 2007 from 10 AM – 5 PM on the UD Green and Main Street.  The Downtown Newark Partnership hosted an information booth on the Green providing information about the partnership effort, upcoming events and gift certificates, selling Taste of Newark tickets, and signing folks up for the Downtown Newark Monthly E-Newsletter mailing list.  Community Day was a great success!  Pairing Community Day with UD Freshman Parents’ Weekend was proposed several years ago the Merchants Committee and the University Office of Alumni Relations, and has proved a successful collaboration for both.  Congratulations and thanks to the Newark Parks and Recreation Department for making 2007 Community Day a huge success, and for including downtown Newark in this event that was traditionally held only on the UD Green.   

4^th Annual Taste of Newark

 

The 2007 Taste of Newark was held Sunday, October 7^th from 12- 3 p.m. on the picturesque Old College Lawn, UD Main Campus. With 34 Newark restaurants joining 11 of the finest area wine and beer distributors, the variety and
selection of great food and drink was unsurpassed.  Participating
Restaurants included:  Ali Baba; Bing’s Bakery; Blackstone’s Restaurant;
Blue Crab Grill; Blue & Gold Club; Brewed Awakenings; Caffe Gelato;
California Tortilla; Cold Stone Creamery; Courtyard Café at UD; Cucina Di Napoli; Deer Park Tavern; Doc Magrogan’s Oyster House; Eagle Diner;
Grotto Pizza; Herman’s Quality Meat Shoppe; Home Grown Café; Iron Hill Brewery; Joy Garden; Klondike Kate’s; Matilda’s Pub & Barbie; Newark
Deli & Bagels; Newark Natural Foods; Panera Bread Company; Pat’s Pizza
& MVP; Philly Pretzel Factory; Saigon Vietnamese Restaurant; Santa Fe Mexican Grill; Season’s Pizza; Shaggy’s on Main; Sweet-n-Sassy Cupcakes;
The Korner Diner; Timothy’s of Newark; and Vita Nova.   Wineries & Distributors included:  Chadds Ford Winery; Delaware Importers; DOPS
Wines; Folly Hill Vineyards; Iron Hill Brewery; Moore Brothers Wine
Company; NKS Distributors; NKS Wines; Paradox Vineyards; and United Distributors.

 

In addition, the event featured demonstrations by:

 

            - David Puser, Executive Chef from the Swiss School in Chur, Switzerland;

            - Michelle Tampakis from the Center for Advanced Pastries Studies in New York

               City and frequent guest on the Food Channel; and

            - Matt Haley from the Comcast Food Show and the Executive Chef at four of the

               finest beach restaurants.

 

The University of Delaware Cheerleaders and beloved mascot YoUDee, the Juggling Hoffmans and the Royal Palm Band provided entertainment for this unique and fabulous celebration of food, wine and fun!  In addition, as a fund-raiser the Taste of Newark 2007 was an overwhelming success!   This event alone raised $27,092.20 for the Downtown Newark Partnership.

 

Halloween Parade and Trick or Treat Main Street  

The 2007 Halloween event was held on Sunday, October 28^th from 3-5 PM on Main Street. The parade boasted 90 entries, including the UD Marching Band in full costume.  Staff offered politicians an opportunity to host a trick or treating table on Main Street in front of vacant or “closed on Sundays” businesses during the event.  This approach was very successful and rounded out the trick or treating event.  Thank you letters were sent to politicians participating.  In addition, we offered to assist businesses with the purchase of bulk candies in case participation in the event causes a hardship for the business.  Two businesses took us up on the offer.  We estimate 1500 trick-or-treaters and their families participated in this fun annual community event. 

Winterfest 

Winterfest 2007 was held Friday, December 2, 2007 from 6 – 9 PM on the Academy Building Lawn.  In addition to the regular Winterfest activities and the Holiday Storefront Decorating Awards, Special Olympics Delaware held a 5K Run and a 1 K Romp to add to the festivities, along a course lit with luminaries.  The Reindeer Run was a wonderful addition to Winterfest activities and Special Olympics organizers indicate it was successful for their organization as well, and they plan for this year’s Winterfest, scheduled for Friday, December 5, 2008, from 6 – 9 PM.  The Downtown Newark Partnership hosted a table at 2007’s Winterfest providing information about upcoming events, particularly those planned for the holiday season, gift certificate sales, and sign-ups for the monthly E-Newsletter and the ever-popular Coupon Corner. 

 

Restaurant Week  

Downtown Newark hosted its second Annual Restaurant Week Monday, January 21st - Sunday, January 27, 2008 - a culinary celebration highlighting our fabulous restaurants and their offerings -- diverse enough to please any palate, and at prices to suit any purse! 

Fifteen (15) outstanding downtown Newark restaurants offered specialty menus highlighting the best they had to offer at the right price!   Participating restaurants included:  Ali Baba, Caffe Gelato, California Tortilla, Cucina di Napoli, Deer Park Tavern, Grotto Pizza, Home Grown Café, Iron Hill Brewery, Klondike Kates, La Tonalteca Mexican Restaurant, Newark Deli & Bagels, Pat's Pizzeria, Santa Fe Mexican Grill, Season’s Pizza and The Saigon Restaurant. 

Three tiers of fabulous prix fixe meals were offered, with some restaurants offering more than one tier during the week!  Each restaurant determined which tier or tiers best fits its clientele, and developed specific menus for the week accordingly.   

The tiers: Family Fun Meals where, unbelievably, a family of four ate lunch or dinner for only $19; Luscious Lunches – a two-course lunch for $9 and a three-course lunch for $15; and Delightful Dinners prix fixe tier featuring 2-course dinners for $19 and 3-course dinners for $29! 

The event included cooking demonstrations, such as a mozzarella cheese and gelato making.  Restaurant Week also featured a range of tastings, from tequila and mojitas, to wines, to hot sauce.  Events during the week included everything from brewery tours to traditional Middle Eastern dance exhibitions to jugglers to live musical entertainment.  Participants also enjoyed free parking in municipal lots with their meal purchase.   

The second annual Restaurant week was an overwhelming success and will be continued in January 2009 (Jan 19 – Jan. 25).  Thank you to the events generous sponsors, the Taste of Newark, Spicer-Mullikin Funeral Homes, NuCar Automotive Group, The Newark Post, and the DNP.   

250^TH Anniversary Events

 

Newark celebrated its 250^th anniversary in style with numerous events ensuring something for everyone, throughout the month of April, 2008. 

Ribbon Cutting Event for Anniversary Ale

Tuesday, April 1, 2008, 5PM
Deer Park Tavern 

Twin Lakes Brewing Company, located on the 252 acre Twin Lakes Farm on scenic Route 52 and specializing in fresh, expertly brewed varieties of beer, honored the City of Newark with the creation of a special golden anniversary ale to commemorate our 250^th Anniversary!  Mayor Funk cut the celebratory ribbon generating the first tastes of this fine, locally brewed anniversary ale at the Deer Park Tavern!  

Other events included: 

Ecumenical Celebration

Thursday, April 10, 2008, 7PM
Newark United Methodist Church 

5K Walk/Run

Sponsored by WSFS Bank

Friday, April 11, 2008, 6:15PM

The race started at the Academy Building, route down Main Street, North College Avenue and Creek Road.  An after-race party was held at the Deer Park Tavern.

Heritage Parade

Main Street
Saturday, April 12, 2008, 3 PM 

An amazing 250^th Anniversary parade featuring period-specific floats and marching groups, marching bands, including some of the best regional high school bands and the University of Delaware Marching Bands.  The parade was judged by a distinguished panel of judges including UD President and DNP Board Member Patrick Harker, City Secretary Pat Fogg and DNP
Board Members Joe Charma, Suzy Rogers and Marty Valania.  The DNP thanks Mayor Funk and the City of Newark’s Parks and Recreation Department for planning and implementing this wonderful community celebration.

Citywide Anniversary Toast

Saturday, April 12, 2008
Immediately followed the Heritage Parade 

Mayor Funk delivered a Citywide Anniversary Toast featuring the specially brewed 250^th Anniversary Ale, created exclusively for Newark’s
anniversary celebrations by Twin Lakes Brewing Company!  

Time Capsule Planting

Sunday, April 13, 2008, 11AM
Academy Lawn 

The Newark Historical Society took the lead in developing and planting the time capsule highlighting Newark in 2008.  The capsule was planted by the Newark Parks and Recreation Department on the University’s Academy Building Lawn.

Colonial Market and Petting Zoo

ACADEMY LAWN
Sunday, April 13, 2008, 11 AM – 3 PM 

Co-sponsored by the Newark Historical Society, Newark Natural Foods &
the University of Delaware’s School of Agriculture, the colonial market and petting zoo were wonderful additions to the Anniversary celebrations. 

 Proclamation Reading

Academy Lawn
Sunday, April 13, 2008, 12 PM 

Anniversary Banquet and Gala Event

Clayton Hall
Sunday, April 13, 2008 

The City’s Anniversary Gala Banquet was an amazing celebration that
began with a reception in the lobby of beautiful Clayton Hall, which was transformed it into a gallery of historic Newark artifacts from the Newark and Pencader Historical Societies, the City of Newark’s Police Department, Aetna Fire Company and the UD Special Collections Department.  Entertainment for the reception was provided by the Praetorious Players,
a renowned group of colonial style musicians popular at colonial
reenactments along the East Coast.  Fife and drum music and a continuous display of the University’s extensive Newark postcards collection were featured.  Dr Carolyn Hoffecker, renowned author and Delaware’s First Lady of History, gave the event’s keynote address at the dinner.  

250^TH Anniversary Exhibits 

Little Known Histories of Newark, Delaware, 1758-2008

University of Delaware Library
Special Collections 

This exhibition celebrated the 250^th Anniversary of Newark’s charter and featured local history sources drawn from family papers, business records, maps, photographs, oral histories, and other resources in the Special Collections Department.    

Newark Historical Society Main Street Museum

 

In celebration of the 250^th anniversary, Newark Historical Society opened a second museum at 148 East Main Street!  The Main Street museum, which by popular demand continues at its Main Street location, highlights the life and history of the people in the area from before the granting of Newark’s Market Charter on April 13, 1758 to the present.  Special emphasis is given
to the roles of Main Street and business in the community.  The Main Street location makes it a convenient stop for persons visiting downtown Newark to shop and dine! 

Saturdays & Sundays, 2-5 PM
Tuesdays & Fridays, 11 AM – 2 PM
Wednesdays & Thursdays, 4-7 PM 

The Newark History Museum will also be open during holidays and
Downtown Newark special events.  The DNP is proud to be a sponsor of the Newark History Museum. 

Newark Library Exhibit

Newark Library
April 1-14, 2008 

Impressions of Newark Exhibit

Newark Arts Alliance
April 11- May 10, 2008 

The Newark Arts Alliance moved to its new space in Market East Plaza –
and its grand opening of their new location (276 E. Main Street, Suite 102) exhibit was the Impressions of Newark exhibit. The show opening on Friday, April 11^th, 6-9 PM  

In addition to these City-initiated events above, several downtown businesses celebrated the anniversary as well.  

 

250-Pound Challenge

Fusion Fitness Center
Market East Plaza
March 1-April 13, 2008  

In honor of Newark’s 250^th Anniversary, Fusion Fitness Center, located in Market East Plaza, 280 East Main Street, Suite 118 sponsored The 250
Pound Challenge!  For this promotion, between March 1^st and April 13^th, Newarkers signed up to help Fusion Fitness reach its goal of redefining
Newark by losing a collective 250 pounds by the anniversary.  

The Wines and Foods of Thomas Jefferson Dinner

Caffe Gelato
Sunday, April 20, 2008
4 PM & 7 PM Seatings 

On April 20, 2008, Caffe Gelato featured a special dinner highlighting the Wines & Foods of Thomas Jefferson to celebrate the City’s 250^th
Anniversary in the spirit of the great man whose passion for good food and wine is legendary.  In addition to the 5-course gourmet meal and expertly matched fine wines, the dinner featured a special guest speaker, James M. Gabler author of Passions: The Wines and Travels of Thomas Jefferson.   

The Opera- A Celebration of the City's History

Sunday, May 11, 2008, 2PM
Thompson Theatre, Roselle Center for the Performing Arts, UD 

The University’s Family Performing Arts Series offered this Newark based opera in celebration of the 250^th Anniversary.

 

Alpha Xi Delta/DNP 5k Run/Walk 

The third annual running of this race took place Saturday, April 19, 2008 hosted by the AZD sorority in partnership with the DNP.  Proceeds went to Girls, Incorporated of Delaware and downtown arts projects.  The event raised nearly $9000, half of which the DNP will use toward the Delaware Avenue S-Turn Mural Project.  

Newark’s Fourth Annual Wine and Dine Downtown

 

On Saturday evening, March 29^th, the restaurants of Downtown Newark partnered with wineries to offer residents and out of town guests a unique evening to celebrate food, wine and fun in Downtown Newark.  Restaurants fashioned their night’s specials based on their featured wines and focus on
how wine can influence a meal’s flavor, preparation and overall enjoyment.  Bistro type menus were offered at each restaurant to allow Wine & Dine participants to sample as many of downtown Newark’s fine restaurants’
menus as they wished.  In addition to highlighting the unique offerings of
fine wineries, the restaurants also served as classrooms for those interested
in learning more about wines.  Participating wineries had representatives
on-site at the restaurants to answer questions and, in some cases, conduct
mini-seminars on the subject.   Wine tasting note cards were available as
well so wine enthusiasts could note their preferences amongst the offerings. 

Participating restaurants included Ali Baba, The Blue and Gold Club, Caffe Gelato, The Courtyard Café, Vita Nova, Cucina Di Napoli, The Deer Park Tavern, East End Café, Grotto Pizza, Home Grown Café, Iron Hill Brewery, Klondike Kates, Pat’s Pizzeria & MVP Lounge, Santa Fe Mexican Grill and The Saigon Restaurant.  The numerous participating wineries included Archetype Vineyards, Authentic Moroccan Wines, Barefoot, Barton & Guestier, Barone Fini, Beaulieu Vineyards Coastal Estates, Beaulieu Vineyards Napa, Beringer’s Founder’s Estate, Black Opal, Black Swan, Cape Mentelle Vineyard, Casa Lapostolle Classic Selections, Casa Lapostolle Cuvee Alexander, Castello Di Gabbiano, Cloudy Bay, Da Vinci, Dynamite Vineyards, Ecco Domani, Edna Valley, Louis Martini Winery, Rancho Zabaco, Newton Vineyards, St. Clements, Stags Leap Winery, Stellina Di Notte, Sterling Vineyards, and Yellow Tail.  To add to the excitement, in-restaurant entertainment, and strolling musicians, balloon decorations and a free zero emissions fuel cell hybrid bus shuttle, courtesy of the University of Delaware were provided.  The event will also feature retail specials. Free parking (both meters and lots) will be available in Downtown Newark, and the first 1,500 customers will receive a commemorative wine glass and carrying pouch!

This event was also made possible by the contributions of our presenting sponsor, United Distributors, and other generous donors, including Commerce Bank, Courtyard at UD, Deer Park Enterprises, Foard &Jones Funeral Homes, Matt Slap Subaru, Newark Toyota World, UD Conference Services, and Wilmington Trust Company.  In addition to the free parking at municipal lots, the University of Delaware Office of Government Relations provided free parking in the Trabant Garage, and the Newark Post sponsored the event by donating the printing and distribution of the event itineraries.  

The Wine and Dine Downtown event is truly a favorite of everyone - the restaurants and businesses on Main Street, the Partnership, and the public, and is extremely successful.  In addition to being a fun night for everyone, this event returns a positive balance of funds to the Partnership that can be used to fund other events.   

Newark Nite 

Newark’s biggest street festival was held on Saturday, June 7, 2008.  Thanks to the hard work and coordination of everyone involved, Newark Nite was an overwhelming success.  Led by the Parks and Recreation Department, Newark Nite is an evening-long festival, a celebration of the community and the beginning of summer.  Main Street is closed to vehicular traffic, and over 30,000 residents and visitors pour in to walk the street and see what the various businesses and vendors set up in the parking spaces lining the street have to offer.  The special offerings by the various businesses allow residents and visitors to sample many different offerings and serves to remind everyone all that Downtown Newark has to offer.  Space in front of businesses not participating or vacant buildings doesn’t remain vacant - outside vendors or community information booths are set up in front of them to create a continuous line of things to see and to do.  The DNP hosts on of these tables to let people know about the organization and what it offers the list of upcoming events and to sell gift certificates and Downtown Newark merchandise.  Carnival-type games were also brought in, as well as three stages of musical entertainment.  There were exhibitions by local organizations as well as a children’s area and more. 

Sponsors included the City of Newark, Downtown Newark Partnership, University of Delaware, Commerce Bank, WXCY, American Spirit Federal Credit Union, The Deer Park Tavern, DuPont and DuPont Dow, Caffe Gelato and Happy Harry’s.  Grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and Delaware Division of the Arts also make the event possible.   

Again, this year’s Newark Nite event was a resounding success, with massive crowds and wonderful weather.  All the volunteers, sponsors, and workers deserve thanks, especially those in the City of Newark’s Parks and Recreation Department who take the lead on this event each year. 

Sundays Are For Sundaes 

Downtown Newark became a wonderland of ice cream sundae treats every Sunday from mid-June through August this summer when participating restaurants and shops offered the Sundays Are For Sundaes campaign.  This first ever promotion featured a "Buy one sundae - get one at half price" offer.  FREE PARKING was offered at meters and in municipal lots every Sunday.   Participating restaurants include Caffe Gelato, The Deer Park, Dunkin' Donuts, Cold Stone Creamery, Home Grown Cafe, TCBY and Klondike Kate's.  The DNP supported the Sunday Are For Sundays promotion through advertising – weekly ads in the Newark Post and radio ads with WJBR radio were purchased, and the campaign was featured in the Downtown Newark E-Newsletter and on the website.  Participating restaurants indicate the promotion was successful and we will consider adding entertainment to the Sundays are for Sundaes campaign next summer. 

5^th Annual Food and Brew Fest

Held on Saturday, July 26, 2008 from noon on, the Fifth Annual Food & Brew Festival, co-sponsored by the DNP and Out and About Magazine, was a tremendous success!  Twelve downtown restaurants were paired with 16 Craft Breweries in celebration of the culinary and brewing arts for American Beer Month, July.  Participating restaurants and breweries included:  Caffe Gelato hosting Magic Hat and Dogfish Head; Cucina di Napoli featuring Moretti and Penn Breweries; Deer Park Tavern hosting Hacker-Pschorr; East End Café featuring Flying Dog; Grotto Pizza hosting Twin Lakes Brewery; Home Grown Café featuring Affligem; Iron Hill Brewery hosting Stoudt's Brewing Company; Kildare's Irish Pub featuring Murphy's Stout; Klondike Kates hosting Paulaner; Pat's Pizzeria & MVP featuring Blue Moon and Yuengling; Santa Fe hosting Southampton; and The Saigon Restaurant featuring Sapporo and Fischer Breweries. To add to the excitement, the all-day event featured the popular Hops & Shops Sidewalk Sale Extravaganza, showcasing the goods and wares offered by Downtown merchants.   Free parking (both meters and lots) was available in Downtown Newark all day long, complimented by a the free Zero Emissions Fuel Cell Hybrid Shuttle running a circuit through downtown, provided by the University,   To enhance the festive spirit, balloon decorations, strolling musicians, and sidewalk chalk artistry were all downtown.  The event costs to the DNP were $2110.95, less than half of previous years’ Food and Brew Fests, due to the generous donations of our sponsors:  Downtown Newark Partnership, Out & About Magazine, WJBR, Kildare’s Irish Pub, Parkway Gravel, Captain Blue Hen Comics and the Deer Park Tavern.   Special thanks to our presenting sponsor, Standard Distributing Company for their generous support, without which this event would not have been possible, and also to United Distributors for their support.

Newark Concert Band Festival

On Saturday, August 23, 2009 from 12 noon-6:00 PM the Diamond State Concert Band and the City of Newark hosted the first-ever Delaware Community Band Day.  Five bands from the region, two Delaware and three Maryland bands, performed in succession for more than five hours!  Each community band is a volunteer organization comprised of 20-60 people of all ages who love to play music and perform for the public.  They played old favorites, big band and swing music, Broadway show tunes, movie scores, concert band classics, and patriotic songs.   At the end, all five bands performed together in a grand finale.   This inaugural concert was made possible, in part, by the Delaware Division of the Arts. 

Community Day 2008 

This year’s Community Day, planned and executed by the Newark Parks
and Recreation Department, assisted by DNP volunteers, was held on Sunday, September 14, 2008 from 10 AM – 5 PM on the UD Green and Main Street.  The Downtown Newark Partnership hosted an information booth on the Green providing information about the partnership effort, upcoming events and gift certificates, selling tee shirts and 250^th Anniversary memorabilia, and signing folks up for the Downtown Newark Monthly E-Newsletter mailing list.  Community Day was a great success!  Congratulations and thanks to the Newark Parks and Recreation
Department for making this year’s Community Day a success, and especially for including downtown Newark in this event that was traditionally only held on the University of Delaware’s Green. 

 

Taste of Newark

 

The restaurant event of the year was held on Sunday, September 21, 2008 from 12 – 3 PM on the picturesque Old College Lawn, UD Main Campus!  With more than 38 Newark restaurants joining with the finest area wine distributors this year, the variety and selection of great food and drink was unsurpassed, and the spirit of competition generated amongst our excellent restaurants brought our chefs to their highest levels! 

Participating Restaurants were:  Ali Baba; Bing’s Bakery; Blackstone’s Restaurant & Pub; Blue Crab Grill; Blue & Gold Club; Brewed Awakenings; Brew Ha! Ha!; Cacciatori Pizza & Pasta; Caffe Gelato; California Tortilla; Cold Stone Creamery; Cosi; Courtyard Café at UD; Cucina Di Napoli; Deer Park Tavern; East End Café; Embassy Suites; Grotto Pizza; Home Grown Café; Iron Hill Brewery; Joy Garden Chinese Restaurant; Kildare’s Irish Pub; Klondike Kate’s; La Tonalteca Mexican Restaurant; Matilda’s Pub & Barbie; Newark Country Club; Newark Deli & Bagels; Newark School for Entrepreneurial Sciences; Pamela’s Gourmet; Panera Bread Company; Pat’s Pizza & MVP; Philly Pretzel Factory; Pinang; Saigon Vietnamese Restaurant; Sante Fe Mexican Grill; Season’s Pizza; Sweet-n-Sassy Cupcakes; Timothy’s of Newark; and Vita Nova.  

Wineries & Distributors participating were:  Chadds Ford Winery; DOPS Wines; Geandre Imports; Iron Hill Brewery; Moore Brothers Wine Company; NKS Distributors; NKS Wines; Paradox Vineyards; Southern Wines and Spirits of DE, and United Distributors. 

In addition, this year’s Taste event featured cooking demonstrations by:

-Matt Haley from the downstate Comcast Food Show and the Executive Chef at four of the finest beach restaurants;

-Walter Staib, Executive Chef and owner of City Tavern in Philadelphia, the country’s oldest restaurant.  Chef Staib is world famous for his cooking demonstrations and was our 250th Anniversary featured chef. 

-David Puser, Executive Chef from the Swiss School in Chur, Switzerland. 

The University of Delaware Cheerleaders and beloved mascot YoUDee, the Juggling Hoffmans and the Royal Palm Band provided entertainment for this unique and fabulous celebration of food, wine and fun! 

The Taste of Newark is also special because it is raises funds for the University of Delaware’s Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management School (HRIM) and the Downtown Newark Partnership.  This year’s proceeds provided $18,750 each for the DNP and HRIM.  In addition, other event related activities such as the Silent Auction and Dine – Around Raffle raised $4,352 for the Newark Arts Alliance and $1,700 for the Christina Education Foundation respectively.  In all, the event raised an amazing $48,923.53, while cementing the idea that downtown Newark is the place to dine in the minds of many people in the region.  Restaurants have reported increased sales in the weeks following the event. 

The DNP expresses its sincere gratitude to Mayor Vance Funk and the Taste of Newark planning committee for this wonderful and profitable
event!

Halloween Parade and Trick or Treat Main Street

This year’s Halloween event was held on Sunday, October 26, 2008 from 3-5 PM on Main Street.  The parade boasted 95 entries, including the UD Marching Band in full costume.  Staff, once again, offered politicians an opportunity to host a trick or treating table on Main Street in front of vacant or “closed on Sundays” businesses during the event.  This approach was very successful and rounded out the trick or treating event, which provides children a safe environment where they could go store to store and trick or treat.  There was also live entertainment for all ages, balloon sales and decorations, face painting, pumpkin carving contests and, of course, the parade.  In addition, the DNP offered to assist businesses with the purchase of bulk candies in case participation in Trick or Treat Main Street would cause a hardship for the business, and one business took advantage of this offer.  We estimate 2,000 trick-or-treaters and their families participated in this fun annual community event.  Thanks to the Parks and Recreation Department for putting together such a wonderful event and to all the downtown businesses that participated!