What a weekend!

The 2012 Taste of Amherst, presented by Atkins Farms Country Market, was one of the most successful Tastes on record. With sparkling weather - neither too hot (like today! Yeesh!) or at all rainy - this year's event was spectacular.

Twenty four restaurants, great music, an enhanced kids' area, great beer and wine, cooking demos, the Forest Park Zoo, and the Cat In The Hat, all made for an amazing four days on the Amherst Town Common.

Each year, the event committee tries to add a new wrinkle to the event. We're always looking to make it even better than the year before. From the entertainment side of things, we focused on the kids' area. with more activities, the return of a Rockwall and Bungie Jump, story times, and more, we did our job there. However, led by Jerry Jolly of the Pub and then guided by Susan Waite of the Amherst Department of Public Works, we worked to go green. We vowed to reduce our waste by at least one third, and asked our restaurants to help us achieve that goal by using compostable products. 

The results aren't in yet, but a quick sight analysis indicated that we reduced our solid, non-compostable waste by more than half. I'll have a final total in the next day or two, and I look forward to sharing that with you then.

I never quite thought I'd ever be so excited about recycling and composting. One of the fun aspects of my job is the varied tasks that I get to do. On Saturday at the Taste, in one of the most disgusting, yet fun, things I had ever done, I was jumping like a wine maker on compostable garbage bags to make more room in the dumpster. I'm sure I looked silly, but it was all for a good cause.

Many, many thanks to all who had worked to make this Taste a big success. This would be an incredibly long post were I to name everyone, but in brief - the Taste committee, led by chair John Thibbitts, Jerry and Aaron Jolly, Chef Bill Collins, David Mazor, Lois Grandmaison from MercyHouse, Scott Howard of WRSI, Art Steele, our participating restaurants (see Facebook.com/TasteofAmherst for more details), Youssef Fadel, the town of Amherst DPW, APD, AFD, Inspection Services, the guys at Marney Electric, and all of our incredible volunteers who helped us make this run smoothly. All told, over 100 organizations participate in this event. They help put smiles on the faces of our friends and neighbors who support the event year after year.