Every year Creative Burlington, along with a group of generous and talented restaurateurs present Downtown Dining: Burlington’s only walking restaurant tour. Guests stroll the beautiful streets of Burlington, stopping at five different establishments: enjoying a sampling of fine cuisine and alcoholic drinks at each. Musical members of Creative Burlington from all different genres entertain the crowds adding to the delightful atmosphere that has been perfected over the years.
This year was touted as one of our best years’ ever, with guests and partners alike praising the virtue of our organizational skills. It also helped that I had wisely sacrificed several Twinkies the morning of the event to the rain gods, making sure that while the rain did come, it appeared after everyone was safely at their final restaurant. Never under estimate the power of a good Twinkie sacrifice.
We also had a record number of ticket purchasers who became new members. While I’m not going to twist anyone’s arm, not hard anyway, everyone should do it. It saves you 15% on every ticket, you get all the great member benefits including your very own subscription to Artworks magazine and you make the staff happy. Staff meetings are always much more fun when we can do the “New Member” dance.
Of course there were problems to contend with this year too. Our website server going down the day that ticket sales launched and the resulting headache from me banging my head against a brick wall of customer support. But it wasn’t anything that few Advil and several creatively worded emails couldn’t fix.
On to the thank yous.
Creative Burlington would like to thank all of our restaurant partners, for their generosity, support and investment in the arts. We couldn’t do it without them, and we love each and every one of them for all that they do for us. Here's the official list: Big Tomato, The Dicken's, Di Mario's Trattoria, Downtown Bistro & Grill, Emma's Back Porch/ Water Street Cooker, La Costa Nuova, Latitude,The Martini House, My Thai by the Lake, Paradiso, Pepperwood, Queen's Head, Red Canoe Bistro, Rude Native Bistro, SB Prime Steakhouse. Next on the thank you list are the companies who brought music to the people by sponsoring Downtown Dining’s entertainers. Bringing an art form to the community is a unique and fulfilling experience, thank you for giving our musicians that opportunity.
A final big thanks to the staff, volunteers and tour guides. I’m happy to report that Downtown Dining raised $25,000! That money is invested in our efforts to support the arts through education and promotion. Speaking of which - watch out for details on our celebration of the arts: Creative Burlington’s first annual Arts Recognition Awards. More on that later though.
For now, make sure you save the date for next year’s event: July 10th, 2011. It’s Downtown Dining’s 10th anniversary and we couldn’t be prouder.
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