Good afternoon. Welcome to the Bloomington Rotary Club's weekly celebration of service. I'm Steve Wicks
and I'm honored to serve as your president this year. Please silence your electronic devices. On this
day in history, October 7th, 1938, Germany began requiring that all Jewish passports be stamped with
the letter J. Tracy Ivanovich will share her reflection.
of in that vein, I guess. I remember two years ago on October 8th, I was giving the reflection, and
it was the day after the terrorist bombing in Israel. And I remember getting reclimbed, shall we say,
in the spirit of Dana Carvey, because it was distressful. I mean, the attack was terrible. But I also
was worried about what would follow. And of course, now we've lived through what has followed, which
is even more catastrophic with all of the
deaths. You know, 1140 people killed the day of the terrorist attack, over 67,000 killed in Gaza. It's
horrific. And last night on the news, I just got back from Belgrade last night, and on the news they
were interviewing a woman whose child had been a hostage and was killed. And they asked her what her
thoughts were, and she said, I'm distressed about
obviously losing my son, but I'm also distressed for all the people in Gaza who've lost their child.
She said, you have to, you can't be distressed about one child being gone if you can't about another.
We start to lose our moral compass. And I thought that was really a great gauge for us. And then I started
thinking, well, you know, who defines what the moral compass is, but that's a whole nother story. But
I thought that was a really good way of looking at things that we can't, there's no sides.
People are people and I was also reflecting on Lauren's last week reflection and there's a lot of. Problems
out there, especially coming from Serbia. There's a lot of problems out there, but there are good things
out there. We've just got to figure out how to control what we can control and try to influence and
be positive as positive as we can. So I just wanted to share that.
We have a few guests with us. Ellen Stroman is here as a guest of the club. And is it Garrett Ortinga,
guest of Jordan Davis, our speaker. And Andrea Astil, guest of Andrea Murray.
Jeremy Graham, guest of Jim Sims. And Joy, do we have any guests online? Hi, Steve, and hi, everyone.
No, we do not have guests today. Well, welcome guests. If you'd like to learn anything about Rotary,
just turn to the person next to you and ask. We have a number of birthdays to celebrate.
New member how she Wang today is his birthday. Tim Jesson in the back here. His birthday is tomorrow.
And art omic has a birthday on the 11th. Um, anniversaries, uh, past president Sarah Laughlin,
17 years today, uh, past president Tracy Yovanovich, three years on the 11th.
Also on the 11th, Tim Jessen, nine years with our club and 13 years overall in Rotary. Number
of announcements. Club is sponsoring an Iraqi refugee family. They need help in two areas, conversation,
practice, and English with the parents to improve their spoken English skills, and job hunting and job
preparation assistance for their 20-year-old daughter.
who has intermediate English skills. Please reach out to Dave Meyer if you'd like more information or
if you think you could help. Annual Rotary Toast is the event that funds our club and the foundation's
local charitable giving. Don't forget to buy your tickets for the event schedule for Friday, November
7th at Ivy Tech. You hear this all the time, but tickets really are going fast. See me or Tracy or go
to RotaryToast.com to get your tickets.
And if you haven't seen it, there was a really nice article in the Herald Times electronic version today
about this year's recipient, Pat Wilson. Save the date for the local NAACP Freedom Fund banquet at Ivy
Tech on November 1st. There should be flyers on your table. Please see club members Jim Sims, who is
here today, or Patrick Smith for details. Also save the date for the
annual club holiday party December 11th at the Bloomington Country Club. And we will be joined same
as last year by the Bloomington North Club. Wonder Lab partnering with Duke Energy and SCCAP invites
families to come to Wonder Lab on October 12th from 1 to 4 p.m. Admission is free. There will
be opportunities to sign up for energy assistance from Duke, SCCAP services,
and Wonder Lab access passes. The chocolate mousse will be there. There will be giveaways, activities,
and more. Last year, they had hundreds of families attend. They hope for more families this year. Rotary
Book Club has one seat left. Is that correct, Sally? One seat left for their October 24 Uptown Cafe
Dinner Bush Book Decession.
followed by a Buskirk Chumlee talk by John Green, the author of the book, Everything is Tuberculosis.
See Sally Gaskell right away if you're interested. Congratulations to Liz Fiddle, Raj Haddawi, Tim Jessen,
and Winston Shindell, all of whom attended every weekly celebration of service for the past quarter.
So our perfect attendance awards.
Um, next sibling city virtual town hall has been scheduled for Saturday, October 26 from four to six
PM. The topic is polarization. What should we do about it? This is not a winterizing talk. This is more
of a political forum. Um, you should have received an, uh, a female invitation from a land barker with
a link to the event registration. If you have any questions, please see a land or see me.
Craig Spence, still recovering from his fall. He hopes to return home soon. And finally, over the weekend,
you should have received quarterly billing. If you didn't receive quarterly billing and you're quite
concerned about it, please see John Zote or please see me. Okay, celebration of service. A lot of stuff
going on in the community over the weekend.
And first, we'll talk about Hoosiers Out Run Cancer. I want to say they had 4,300-plus participants.
Rotary in Bloomington was involved. The Handlebars was a team put together by the Bloomington North
Rotary Club in honor of the recently deceased Dr. Mark Dayton. They raised over $15,000, and they had
the largest family community team. So good job to the Handlebars.
Our club was represented by volunteers and participants. A couple of pictures of the brights, Jim and
Ann sporting the back of their Dr. Mark Dayton shirts, the handlebars, and then Jim and Ann walking
in the one-mile walk. Also at the event, the Rotoractor Club. That's our, this year's President Neva.
Rotoractors actually had two volunteer events on Saturday. This was one of them. So they were out there
making lots of things happen. And then finally, it's a run for cancer support in the community. But
in the spirit of last week's Mystery Rotarian, Martha Wales, who ran competitively for 35 years, I want
to recognize one of our club members, Bill Brown, did the 5K run.
And he came in fourth out of 35 in his age group. So yeah. Bill raising money for cancer support and
doing it in a very fast way. Sunday was the Buddy Walk. And Bloomington North Club was a big sponsor
this year. I was there at a rotary booth.
Next to us was Lifestream, and then next to that was our new organizational member, Developmental Services,
Inc. And here's a picture of lead member Haoxi Wang who's sitting right there and his colleagues. And
it was a really fun event. And now it's time for the Mystery Rotarian. So those of you who are new to
this, if you know the answer, just put up your hand. Don't shout it out.
If you're online, raise your hand electronically, but don't say anything. So here's the first clue.
As a journalist, this Rotarian once served as a senior science writer for General Motors Research
Laboratories, edited the Welding Handbook, edited the Miami Herald International Edition, and served
as a visiting journalism professor at IU and the University of Kansas.
Okay, we have a few in the room. All right. Next clue. This Rotarian attended a 2010 launch of the Space
Shuttle at Kennedy Space Center, which I'm really jealous about. Okay, put up your hand if you know
we have. All right, a few more. Also, this Rotarian is a sixth generation native of Hopkins County,
Kentucky, a status shared with
Favorite author, Wendell Berry. Okay, put up your hands again if you know. We're getting a few more.
Last clue. A Paul Harris plus three fellow and a Bloomington Rotary Club roundabout reporter, this Rotarian
was a member of the Coral Gables Club for 30 years and has belonged to our club since 2018. All right,
put up your hands.
Okay. And the answer is Bill Oates. And Tracy, you were the first hand up. Did you get it right? Oh,
okay. I think, Liz, you might have been the second hand. Did you get it right? Oh. Judy, you were? Did
you get it right? Oh, good job, Judy. I think you have a three-week streak going.
Bill is not here today, but if we get a round of applause for Bill Oates. Joy, did anyone get it right
online? Well, I was scouring for raised hands and I did not see any. I think we were all stumped. Okay,
thank you. So a couple of pictures of Bill, a file photo and then a picture from a couple of years ago
during a Paul Harris ceremony. Bill with Lance and Tim and Liz.
Ventured north of the Ohio River to attend Purdue, earned a BS in engineering sciences, later earned
degrees from IU, and talk about diverse organizations, publishing books, the National Council of Teachers
of English, along with the American Welding Society, and Market Data Retrieval, Inc.
Bill has been surrounded by good basketball since he grew up in Kentucky. He spent time at Purdue, IU,
and Kansas University. He spends his winters in Florida. So he'll be leaving soon. And then he'll be
back in the spring, during which time he's volunteered to be a roundabout reporter. So move on to Rotary
International Minute. October is Rotary Economic and Community Development Month. And we have a short video.
play.
I see entrepreneurs or workers up there in Northern Thailand. And I see that the major issues with the
whole problem now is the inequalities of wealth between the rural areas and the urban city. We have
to move those small-holder farmers into the market so to raise their income level in here and fight
this inequality. Not many people can understand about the peace aspect.
of agriculture. If we can support the economic development in a very sustainable way, I believe that
we have a chance for building a peace platform. Our mission of Go Organics is to empower regenerative
agriculture. We need local people to support the local farmers in here.
while at the same time connecting with the world. It's all peace building. It's very interesting because
once I had a meeting with the farmers, we present what is organic suffocations, what can you do to the
farmers. After two hours talk with them, they thanked me for sharing with them the knowledge.
But I told them, no, thank you. Without you, I live in a city, I have no food to eat. Please help to
produce more quality food for the people to eat.
and together we'll make a difference. Now we have some time for Happy Dollars. Is there anyone happy?
I see Tim in the back. Here's Tracy up front.
happy dollars because we are at 305 tickets out of 350 for the toast and the article today Jim's not
here I don't think Jim bright but man that was great I'm not really happy about my birthday but I am
happy for the st. Thomas Lutheran Church if you don't know what
Last Wednesday the First Christian Church experienced a very, very disastrous fire which did not take
out their sanctuary, but it has caused them to move to other places. And so Sunday afternoon we were
hosted by St. Thomas Lutheran Church. I also want to say a word in favor of our neighbors over in Owen
County. The Gay Pride celebration there in Spencer was just over the top. Thank you all.
Oh, you came out of nowhere. I have five happy dollars because as Tracy said, 305, I think she said,
I'm the proud owner of one of them. And on your tables, you'll have flyers for the NAACP and it has
this real convenient QR code. So $5 to teacher's warehouse. So Jim, when you raise your hand and there's
money in it, you'll be surprised at how quickly we move. I have $20 for
For my daughter, Brenna, who's turning 35 today, I think, and her new grandson, my first grandson, Miles.
I have $20 for the good news I just heard from our
a fellow member for Gilmore. I said we've now reached $4.8 million in our beacon raising money from
the community. And our goal is $5 million, so we're on our way. And also had a great groundbreaking
just a few weeks ago, but this is icing on the cake. One online.
Lynn Schwarzberg is not here so that I can say that I'm so happy, 10 happy dollars, that the Milwaukee
Brewers are shoving the Chicago Cubs in the baseball playoffs. I change dollars for recognizing our
member, I don't remember his name, who's having, who had his arm, hands broken.
And I've been thinking about him because he's a pianist and I hope he's getting really, really good
care. Can Leslie go? I have 20 happy dollars for
A joyful event that happened in our family this week. Our son Jonathan moved from Bridgewaters Group
Home, which is just up the street from Opportunity House to a home in Park Ridge East. He has got the
bottom level of a split level home. And he's 40 years old. He operates under the age of two. And Doris
Sims asked me on Sunday, well, was he happy? And I was kind of hemming and hawing, and Doris said,
Well, you're telling me that he went from room to room clapping. I think he's ecstatic. So she was right.
We have online. Yes. You want to get the online one? Hi, this is Leslie from Wonder Lab, and we just
had our gala, The Wonderful Science of Oz. We have preliminary results that it's in the top three of
all time. We got
donations after the event. So thank you to everybody that attended, that are Rotarians, that donated,
that helped. And if you want to be on a gala committee for Wonder Lab, let me know. We're looking for
expanding our committee by 20 happy dollars because we did a really good job and proud of us.
One more. I have some happy dollars to share to say that my husband and I volunteer at Spencer Pride.
The Saturday was so fun. My husband was a volunteer at the Wonder Lab booth teaching kids how to make
slime and I send all the kids up to make slime with my husband. So he texted me and said, I don't know
why my booth was so popular. We had so much fun. Please come visit us next year. Thank you all.
And now Sam Udak will introduce our speaker for today. So our guest speaker today is at the center of
Bloomington's food scene. He served as the director of operations at the Chocolate Moose for 11 years.
He started and continues to organize Bloomington's food truck Friday, which grew from the lot next to
the old Chocolate Moose building to today's bustling location at Switchyard Park.
He hosts a podcast, No Dishes, which is now at its ninth season, sharing the stories behind Bloomington's
favorite restaurants. You may also find him calling bingo and DJing in special events and weddings.
This summer, he spearheaded the return of the taste of Bloomington drawing more than 30,000 attendees
to Kirkwood Avenue. Beyond his hospitality roles, he serves our community as the board president of
Visit Bloomington and serves on the New Hope for Families and West Foundation boards. It's easy to see
why he was honored with a 440 award from the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce this year.
Please join me in giving a warm welcome to our speaker, Jordan Davis. All right. Thank you, Sam. It's
an absolute honor to be here. When Kyla first reached out to me about giving this speech, I was excited
and also a little nervous. For someone that does a weekly radio show, a podcast, it's not often that
I'm asked to give a speech. But then I remembered I get to talk about something. Oh, was that me?
All right, cool, we're good. I gotta talk about something that I care a lot about, that's food. And
more specifically, food in a community that I care really deeply about, Bloomington. With over 380 culinary
offerings, our city punches way above its weight. 145 of those are in the downtown area. We have 10
breweries, wineries, and distilleries, over 20 food trucks, 85 international restaurants, 23 pizza places,
35 coffee and sweet shops, and 38 bars and pubs.
When tours visit, they spend more money on dining out than entertainment, lodging, or any other segment.
In 2023, the most recent year we have data for, this accounted for $150 million spent. This helps support
over 2,700 culinary jobs in Monroe County. In a visitor profile study, the second highest rated way
to describe Bloomington after being academic was that it has great restaurants and food options. I tell
you all this
to emphasize how important a vibrant restaurant scene is to our community and communities around the
world. Worldwide, culinary tourism accounted for $11.5 billion spent in 2023. In a time where it seems
harder than ever to get everyone to agree on anything, in a time where it's easier than ever to focus
on all of the negative around us, there's one thing we have in common, and that is the need to eat.
Food is what fuels us. It's what keeps us alive. It's the universal language. When we meet or gather,
we break bread.
It's how business is done. It's how relationships are fostered. Look at us today. I know if I'm invited
to something and I know there's going to be a good spread, I'm much more inclined to attend. But how
do we keep this front and center for locals and tourists alike? How do we create these gathering spaces
where we can share food and ideas that can in turn help us retain and attract young professionals within
our community that we so desperately need? How do we activate our public spaces and continue to embrace
Bloomington's unique identity
through this universal need for sustenance. Back in September of 2014, myself, along with the owner
of the chocolate mousse, Justin Loveless, started what has now become a beloved Bloomington tradition,
Food Truck Friday. Every week, April through October, local food trucks and other vendors gather for
this free to attend event that can be enjoyed by the entire community, featuring local bands and musicians
during the dinner hours. While now a popular event nationwide, we were one of the first Food Truck Friday
events in the country.
If you type in facebook.com slash Food Truck Friday, it brings up the Bloomington Food Truck Friday
page. Many much larger communities don't even host a weekly food truck event like we do. We very quickly
saw that there was a demand for an event like this when we started it at the Old Chocolate Moose. And
over the years, we have seen so many new food trucks open knowing that they can rely on consistent great
sales at a weekly event. I'm very proud of what Food Truck Friday has become over the past 11 years.
Where else can you go and support so many local businesses and musicians all in one place while also
seeing Bloomington's beautiful $34 million Switchyard Park being utilized in a way that benefits so
many? Through my work with Food Truck Friday, I've unintentionally become the main point of contact
for many event organizers looking for food vendors. This has led to organizing food trucks for IU Athletics,
the IU Arts and Humanities Grand Faloon Festival, and the Lotus World Music and Arts Festival, and many others.
It was through these experiences that I thought maybe I would be the person best suited to bring back
the beloved Taste of Bloomington event, which had failed to come back since the pandemic, the last one
occurring in 2019. So in November of 2023, I met with some of the old organizers, Talisha Coppock with
Downtown Bloomington, Inc., Ron Stanhouse with the Crazy Horse, Dave Kubiak of the Bluebird, to ask
for their blessing to bring back the taste. Fortunately for me, they were ready to call it a day.
as they had poured countless volunteer hours over many years working on the taste, and after two attempts
to bring it back, filled through in 2022 and 2023, they were happy to pass it over. With that being
said, they had dissolved their 501C3, and there was no money left for any future events. So with a binder
full of papers from 2019, meeting minutes, spreadsheets, all that stuff, and their blessing to use the
name, I set out to figure out how I can make this thing happen.
I approached Justin Loveless, the owner of the Chocolamousse, and asked if Chocolamousse would be willing
to financially back the event, allowing us to plow ahead with the certainty that the event would happen
no matter how much sponsorship money was raised. He agreed, as he had seen how much taste of Bloomington
had meant to the community since its inception in 1982. The old event had happened most recently in
the Showers Plaza, required a ticket to attend, and gave the food vendors freedom on portion size and
pricing. But I wanted to re-envision what it looked like.
I ultimately settled on Kirkwood as the ideal location. The energy of other events on Kirkwood was something
that I felt was hard to match. The sample gates, the lit up Busker Chumley sign, the streets filled
with people. An opportunity to showcase vendors, but also our downtown and surrounding businesses. One
of the things I was really excited about was putting the stage right in front of the sample gates, because
I hadn't seen one done like that. I'd heard maybe in the 80s or 90s. But that picture alone brings me
just so much joy seeing the sample gates with the stage.
The other feedback I had heard over the years was that the event had become fairly expensive to attend,
and many portions were too large to try as many different places as people really wanted to. So we went
ahead with a free to attend model and capped all the food at $5 or less. Historically, the event was
a Saturday before Father's Day. But with Grand Faloon now occurring on Kirkwood at the beginning of
June, I wanted to space it out, eventually deciding on the last Saturday before MCCSE, the local school
system, started back up.
So after nailing down the vision, I began to form a committee. When it was all said and done, a 19-person
committee was formed with everyone broken down into specific subcommittees with specific focuses. Restaurant
vendors, entertainment, infrastructure, alcohol, volunteers, sponsorship, and marketing and branding.
We had full committee meetings and frequent subcommittee meetings beginning in the December of 2024.
I was a part of every subcommittee meeting to ensure that I had a full understanding of what was being
accomplished and what we had left to do.
Leading up to the event, or really quick, I want to just recognize all these people because taste doesn't
happen without all of them. I'm sure you know a lot of them, but they busted their butts with nothing
expected in return. So I'm really glad that we got to put their picture up here, list out their names.
They're with a lot of great local organizations as well. But leading up to the event, I did a full-blown
media tour with appearances on Wish TV, RTV6, Fox 59, and just about every local radio station. We put
up a billboard and we ran an ad in Evansville Living.
There was a buzz about the town the week of, and we couldn't have asked for a better weather forecast
this year. We knew Saturday was going to be one hell of a day, but we had no idea what was in store.
In 2019, Taste had approximately 10,000 attendees, and we thought, best case scenario, we would match
that or maybe exceed it by a couple thousand. We were wrong.
It was estimated that we had attendance of over 20,000, and I'll also get to how we got the 30,000 number
that Sam mentioned. So without ticket sales, it was a little tough to figure out attendance numbers,
but we took two different approaches. First, I took a number of photos for different times throughout
the day, different locations, and gave those to my friend, Pat East. He used five different AI tools
that I'm not versed in, or well versed in, and knew what prompts to give it.
And that got us a wide variety of numbers, right around that 20,000 number, some a little lower, some
a little higher. The other method we used was the city has something called Placer AI. It uses cell
phone location data. You have to opt into it. But it takes that number and then extrapolates it out.
And it eliminates anyone that lives or works in the area. That showed for the time of the event, on
August 2 this year, from 3 to 10 PM, 4th Street to 6th Street, Walnut to Indiana, that there was 35,000 people.
So we went with the 20,000 number. We felt good with that. The 35 also includes people in restaurants
on 4th Street, 6th Street. But regardless, we were very happy with the turnout. The 50 food vendors,
which was a new record for how many food vendors participated, and the eight alcohol vendors combined
for over $225,000 in revenue over a seven-hour period. The Chocolate Mousse was able to make a profit,
and we were able to show that this free-to-attend model was likely sustainable.
But most importantly, the number one feedback we received was that Bloomington was back. For so many
people, this was the first time since the pandemic that they thought things had finally completely returned
to normal. It was a reunion. It was an opportunity to take pride in our city. The food vendors were
able to showcase their offerings to potential new customers for their stores and make some money at
the same time. Our incredible breweries, wineries, and distilleries were all included, something that
hasn't always been the case.
The chocolate mousse will once again be behind taste for 2026, but I'm currently working on forming
a new 501C3, which will take the reins after next year's event using a percentage of the profits that
it hopefully generates. I think Mayor Thompson put it very well when she spoke to the crowd and referred
to taste as the crowning jewel of county summer. We hope this is the case for many years to come.
When I had Mayor Thompson on my podcast just before she took office, she had mentioned retention and
attraction of young professionals as the second biggest challenge she had ahead behind working out solutions
for our homeless neighbors. I'm confident that events like taste, a strong culinary scene, and a fun
post-grad nightlife are integral parts of achieving that goal. When the pandemic hit, my friend Sadie
Clark, who was a huge part of the taste marketing, started a restaurant bingo game where you would get
get carry out from local restaurants, and post a picture of your food next to a bingo card with that
restaurant marked off. Once you got a bingo, Sadie would give you a gift card from one of the many local
spots that donated. As someone that is constantly on the go, many people quickly figured out just how
much I ate out. As I had blacked out my bingo card before most people got a regular bingo, when I made
my post, I started writing little reviews with silly jokes, and they quickly garnered a following
with many chiming in to say I should start a podcast. So with my extensive dining out experience, 15
plus years of working in the restaurant industry at the time, and a hate for doing dishes, I started
the No Dishes podcast back in the summer of 2020, naming it after the best part about going out to eat,
No Dishes. This was an opportunity to highlight the stories of those behind your favorite culinary hotspots
and your favorite dishes.
We also have covered local events, nonprofits, bars, and from time to time, just people that I found
interesting, like Mayor Thompson and Angelo Pizzo. Initially, I'd guess come on to my 500 square foot
apartment that was underneath the Uptown Cafe. It was a little bit of a challenge, making sure I always
kept it clean. Didn't do a great job, but we made it work. Fortunately, now we have our own studio.
We've built a set, and we have a three camera operation, thanks to my business partner, Garrett Portinga,
with Green Hat Media, who's here today.
Since its inception, No Dishes has garnered over half a million views and listens and has had a major
positive impact on many of the businesses that we have featured. The stories I've heard are incredible.
We recently had Anwar Naderpour, the owner of Samira, on the podcast, and he shared how he fled Afghanistan
when Russia invaded in 1979, and he made his way to Pakistan. Then through very fortunate circumstances,
he made his way to France, then Virginia, then Indianapolis, and then down here where he opened Samira in 1998,
and named it after his first daughter. Or Ed from Buffalo East, I'm sure everyone in this room probably
knows Ed. He shared about his unwavering mission to spread his son's music after his son had taken his
own life at a young age. There's countless other stories of guests we feature that make you gain a newfound
appreciation for them, their businesses, and what they serve. That's what makes Bloomington so special,
the people. And so many of these incredible people tell their stories through their food. So next time
you're dining out,
Be sure to take the time and think about the story being told. Appreciate what we have. The restaurant
business is one of the hardest businesses to make it in, and I can tell you it certainly is not getting
easier. When I started at the Chocolate Mousse in the spring of 2014, I was incredibly fortunate to
inherit a brand with generational loyalty and a cult following. While that was a lot of pressure and
a task that I did not take lightly, it was something many local restaurants don't have the luxury of
having. Despite growing revenue over 600% in my time with the mousse,
Every year is an uphill battle to be profitable. Transient labor force, rising food costs, increased
competition, it doesn't let up. And I'm not asking for your sympathy. I know how lucky I am to get to
work with ice cream every day. They don't tell you when you're a kid that that's a career, that you
can make money working in ice cream. And that is not lost on me. I tell you all this to say, if the
choco mousse, which dates back to 1933 and has a loyal following, has to scratch and claw to make a profit,
Think about how difficult it is for these newer restaurants opening up, the ones that have little to
no brand recognition, who have yet to build up a following. So please, when you're dining out next,
please try something new. Try something local. Reach out to local restaurant owners and managers and
see if there's a way for you or your businesses that may be able to help collaborate with them. Because
if there's one thing that I've learned while I've been in Bloomington, it's that collaboration is key.
The taste of Bloomington doesn't happen without collaboration.
Master rental agreeing to do a huge in-kind sponsorship before there was any buzz about its return.
All the vendors agreed to participate. All the volunteers that worked that day, the sponsors, the committee,
the city, it was a team effort. Collaboration is the answer to the question I had asked at the beginning.
How do we keep people focused on the, oh, that's me when I started the chocolate mousse. I forgot that
was in there. There we go. Collaboration is the answer to the questions I asked at the beginning.
How do we keep people focused on the importance of a vibrant restaurant scene? Collaboration. How do
we create these gathering spaces where we can share food and ideas? Collaboration. How do we activate
our public spaces and continue to embrace Bloomington's unique identity through the universal need for
sustenance? Collaboration. So please go out, continue to do the amazing work I know you are all doing
in our community, and collaborate with one another in new ways so we can continue to be proud to call
Bloomington home through our breaking of bread with one another.
Thank you again for asking me to be here today. I'm incredibly grateful for all the work that you all
have done as individuals and this group has done to make Bloomington the gym that it is. Thank you so
much and I'm happy to answer any questions that you might have. Who gave you the recipes for your initial
I think they had chocolate mousse. Yeah, so the May family, who I'm sure many of you know, we owe a
lot to the May family. They started the chocolate mousse in 1933 as May's Cafe, and then they built
the old stand in 55. It was called the Penguin. It was in the Jack and Diane music video when he says,
sucking on a chili dog outside the Tasty Freeze. That's the old chocolate mousse stand in the music
video. But yeah, we have a lot of recipes from the May family. We still do a homemade chili sauce. The
guy that makes the ice cream, we have one guy.
makes all the ice cream for all of our stores, everything we do. It's incredible. He's the only one
that's been there longer than I have, other than our owner. But yeah, we've inherited a lot of stuff
from the May family, and we try to uphold that tradition as best we can. I'm curious, because you had
such a successful model this year with Chocolate Moose as the main sponsor. Yeah. Why do you need a 501C3?
not-for-profit status? Yeah, it's a great question. So we were very fortunate. Part of the collaboration
that helped make it happen this year was the Chamber agreed to be a fiscal sponsor for us, because there's
certain organizations that will only give money to a 501c3. Also, Taste isn't about making money for
us. We were very happy, because ChocoMoose took a huge risk. Two months before the event, it looked
like we were probably going to lose 20 grand. We got very lucky with weather. A lot of things fell into
place to where it was profitable. But that's not what Taste is about. So we're hoping that it is going
to be a nonprofit.
Or I'm sorry, it will be for sure. And then that also might make it easier for other people to help
support us, knowing that it's not just going to try to help make the Choc-O-Mousse money. So I was sad
when Cafe Pizzeria closed after, what, 60 years. But I've been surprised that you talk about startups
and getting the name out. I mean, certainly a restaurant that was known in the community. Any thoughts
on why I believe that location remains vacant?
Yeah, well, I think they're asking like $5 million or something for the building. So I think there was
stuff going on in the family as far as why they closed. I can't speak on it. I don't know too much about
it. But yeah, it's just tough when you have these businesses that have been around for decades and they
get passed down throughout the family.
You know, does the next generation, is that what they want to do? Do they still want to run it? Food
costs are just through the roof. I wish we could charge so much less for ice cream than what we do.
So my heart goes out to everyone out there struggling in the restaurant business. And I don't know.
We'll see. My guess is they're waiting for someone to come along that will shell out that amount of
money. And I'm sure they'll, unfortunately, probably build on top of it. But maybe that's not a bad
thing to have some density. Yeah.
Loved the Penguin. I was there all the time with Ms. Pacman. But the constellation, the thing I look
forward to at Constellation is the coupon. Yeah, of course. That's great. Are you mostly townies or
gownies when you think of your customers? What's the breakout? Yeah, so we're in a unique situation
where I think, I don't know the exact percentage breakdown, but it's both. And we're lucky that when
everyone else dies in the summer because all the IU leaves, it's perfect ice cream weather.
It is tough, though, because one of the things that makes the ice cream business difficult
is the seasonality. So even though you have all these students here, not too many people want ice cream
or as frequently in the winter. So I would honestly, I'd probably say 50-50 if I had to put a number
on what the breakdown is, which we're lucky. We're local.
give to every silent auction that reaches out. I can't tell you the last time I said no to donating
a gift card or something like that. So it's very important for us to be good community partners and
be involved in the community. And again, realize that there's these generational people just coming
through. One of the fun stories I like to tell when I first started the chocolate mousse at the old
stand, I had a couple come through and they're like, it's our 50th anniversary. Well, that's incredible.
And they go, our first date was here.
And that kind of blew my mind. So very quickly put into perspective for me how much the chocolate mousse,
the penguin, meant to a lot of people in the community. And then for the gown side of things, we sell
at the football stadium. We do a lot of stuff with IU Athletics. We've had a chocolate mousse here in
the union. So I don't know. We look at it from all angles and just want to serve everyone some good
ice cream. My friends and I had a mobile penguin club
Oh, nice. In the 1950s. Anyway, I wanted to ask you, what was some feedback you got from this event?
And are you planning any modifications or changes? Yeah, thank you so much. So one of the number one
feedback we knew would be an issue going into it, the hardest, the biggest hurdle we had to make this
thing happen on Kirkwood was power. Getting power for these 50 restaurant vendors, which some of them
were food trucks, so maybe not 50, but just getting power. Fortunately, the graduate hopped in and let
us tap into their power grid.
Which is extremely nice, especially they're owned by Hilton. So it's a massive company. But Andrew Harris,
who's the GM at the graduate, serves on the Visit Bloomington board with me, realized the importance
of the event, let us tap into that. Cassidy Electric was able to run it all out there. But that created
all of the food vendors together. So it was kind of a bottleneck on the 200 block. Didn't know where
lines were going to, things like that. So I'm going to try to continue to explore our power options
so we can spread the food vendors out.
So it's not all clustered together. The other thing was the intersections. We had asked, and I'm very
grateful to BPD and FIRE for everything they did to help make this event happen, but we had asked ahead
of time, can we close down some of these north-south streets? It's going to be a lot of people. They
want to leave them open so emergency vehicles can get through, and plus you can't just like close down
Lincoln and people can't get to the graduate parking garage or things of that nature.
So those were the two biggest takeaways. Also, we want to put menus up higher so people can see them
through the crowds of people. But those are the two biggest takeaways. Try to spread out the food vendors,
which is, again, something we knew we needed to do, but we're going to try harder this year now that
we kind of have the format nailed down. And then seeing what we can do as far as closing the intersection
so it's safe for everyone walking through. Thank you.
So I wondered like how many flavors of ice cream you can have at any one time, ready to serve. And then
also what might be your most successful flavor cell. Oh man, okay. This is fun. I did, I spoke to the
project school recently. Every question was about flavors of ice cream. And that was, that was fun.
I could do that all day. We could probably do, I think 20 at any given time, maybe a little bit more
than that. You know, so we have our regular ice cream that's made with 14% butterfat.
Your typical sauce serve is four or 5% just to kind of put it into perspective. It's not easy to scoop.
My right forearm is larger than my left just from scooping ice cream so much over the years. I think
grasshopper, you know, the mint Oreo. People are very fond of that one. It's very popular. Cookie dough
is up there. It's had years where it's been the most popular. Obviously the chocolate flavors, the moose
chocolate, which is just plain, and then the moose dream chocolate Reese's cup. People love those. And
then recently the one we've had the most success with has been our banana pudding.
So we had that as a seasonal we kind of teased it like the McRib would give it to you take it back a
little bit. And now I think we brought it back for good because we're not jerks. The chef what his favorite
food in the whole world was and he said ice cream and one of the reasons was it's so hard to get perfect
that smoothness and just the process of getting it right would you agree.
Yeah, 100%. You know, I know Lynn Swartzberg who's not here today. She's had notes for me as I'm sure
it doesn't surprise many of you on how we could get it to finish a little cleaner. But you know, I think
we've had the same guy making the ice cream for 15 years. You know, he learned from guys that had been
making it for decades before him. And it's the one thing in the company I don't know how to do in my
11 years because he just handles it. But yeah, so I have a lot of respect for what he does and how consistent
he gets that product out.
And ice cream is so good, but I've always had advice for baked goods. That's always been my, uh,
what gets me. Uh, I have a question. If you can give one advice for someone who is trying to start a
podcast, cause we're thinking about doing a disability podcast awareness. What would you give to us?
Yeah, find someone to partner with. Garrett and please chat with Garrett and I afterwards. Garrett's
the producer and really the brains behind all of it. I just go and get to have fun conversations with
people. He does all the hard stuff. But when I initially started, I found a producer that believed in
what we were doing, and so I wasn't paying out of pocket. So if you can get someone that can do the
technical side, or if you just do audio only, even though we've added the cameras,
So many people I run into are like, hey, I listen to it when I'm on a run. I listen to it. So so many
people, even though you have the video, are still listening to it. So honestly, you could probably order
the equipment you need, teach yourself just how to do it, and just get the ball rolling. I think the
biggest thing is consistency, getting content put out. We try to do every Tuesday. We have some breaks
in there. But we do 40 episodes a year. So we put out one a week for 20 weeks and then have a little break.
one a week for 20 weeks, but consistency and just start, start creating content and just start going.
Yeah. Thanks. What, um, uh, if somebody were coming out of town guests, friends of yours, and they said,
Hey, we're coming in for the weekend and, uh, take us to a couple of your favorite places that you want
to go for restaurants. What would you, what would you say? Oh man, I don't want to alienate anybody.
Um, I'm, uh, I'm a huge fan of, uh, Osteria Rego. Um,
probably the best Italian in town. I love what they do there. D'Angelo's is also great on the Italian
front. But love Osteria, the Elm, depending on what my bank account looks like. I love going to the
Elm. Chef Dan Thomas is incredible, really smart, knows what he's doing. It's such an incredible aesthetic
that they have in there. The level of service is fantastic. The number one place that gets mentioned
on the podcast is Uptown and they deserve
all of that credit, because they're, when you think of running a restaurant as like a production as
a show, I think Uptown really epitomizes that, the way they all work together in unison, work together
as a team, and it's really fun to watch that stuff when you're dining out and see the little ins and
outs of how people are doing things. But my favorite comfort meals, like Taste of India, butter chicken,
veggie pakora, garlic naan, love some, who's your soulmate to get the Korean fix? I mean, I could go
on and on, so I don't know how much time we have.
Any questions online? There are not, Michael. So today in the Washington Post, Tom Sitesima, who stepped
down as a food critic after 25 years at the Washington Post, and you sort of started to tell us things
that you wish people would think about when they are thinking about going to restaurants. He did a whole
list, which I'll share with you afterwards.
So you touch on one, you said, try something new. What are some other tips to get people to, you know,
be a little bit more bold and try different things? And what do you do to encourage people to to get
out there and eat out and enjoy it? Yeah, I think I would say when you go to places, especially those
on 4th Street, but tons of others ask, ask
get to know their story, get to know the why, why they get into doing restaurants, why do they care
about food? You know, I am also saying this to myself about trying to be adventurous and ordering. Once
you know you like something, it's hard to get away from it, because especially it's more expensive than
ever to dine out. You don't want to waste that money and get something you don't like, but I think it's
worth the risk, because then you'll find new favorites. And the other thing maybe isn't so much as to
your question, but just having understanding when you're going out to eat, especially with the ebbs
and flows of the university calendar.
knowing that, okay, it's graduation weekend. They're going to be getting their butts kicked. Maybe I
need to make a reservation or go a little out of town. I think that's just something that's very courteous
and helpful for the restaurants themselves, knowing what they're going through at any given time. The
taste was wonderful, and I want to commend you for all you've said and done. But you have a
good understanding of the downtown area. I spoke earlier of the Christian Church, and a lot of people
there were opposed
to closing off Kirkwood. What is your opinion on how that has worked out for the restaurants and others?
Yeah, I go back and forth on it. If you would have asked me a couple years ago, I probably would have
had a different answer. I think it's great to close Kirkwood for these special events. I love all of
the people at Uptown and Farm and Lenny's and Nick's. I'm close with all of them.
but it does seem potentially that the closure benefits those four and maybe not anyone else. But I know
they also do pay money to do that outdoor seating. I would say either let's leave it open or let's just
close it permanently, brick it out, make it a beautiful pedestrian walkway all the time, similar to
Pearl Street, I think in Denver or Boulder.
And so that would be my thought is let's leave it open unless we want to do something a little more
drastic. But I'm happy to see Uptown and Farm and Lenny's and Nick's all thrive with it.
But yeah, fortunately, I'm not in a situation where I have to be the one to make that call. If you could
bring back two or three restaurants that no longer exist in Bloomington, which ones would they be? Yeah.
So I moved here in 2009. So I don't know if I'll date back to some of the ones that other people would
like to see. No Coast Reserve.
On the square, the last seafood restaurant we had, and it was incredible, Chef Seth Elger, where Inkwell
is now, and then it was Oliver in between. No Coast Reserve, I miss a lot. Love No Coast. Man, Darn
Good Soup is one that I hear mentioned a lot, and I miss.
And then I don't know if Petite Cafe, they closed for a while. I know they still do the window service,
but I don't know if they still do the dinner services. They do. Yeah, because I used to enjoy doing
the dinner service, and I think they got away from that. But yeah, I'd say that's it. And I know we're
going to get done today. I'm going to think of 10 more that I wish I said. Yeah, Irish Lion, some Blarney
Puffballs, 100%.
I know I've seen I've seen pictures, but it was before my time. So one of the things the old taste of
Bloomington had was competitions between the restaurants on waitstaff and things like that. Are you
thinking about doing and having worked Sweeney's I
did that. And it was competitive with my father at the union, I'll just say. But are there any competitions
you all are looking at doing? Yeah, so that was floated, you know, for this year. But we were like,
let's just focus on the basics. It's our first year organizing it. Let's get down the food, the booze,
the music, you know. But now we're like, okay, we've kind of shown that now let's build on top of it.
So that's one of the things we've discussed.
And even though I haven't waited tables or bartending in years, I kind of want to just see if I still
got it, hop in there with everyone else. But no, I met with Steve, the executive director at the Buskirk,
recently. And as of now, it's looking like we'll be adding that as a third kind of stage. Because also,
again, we got so lucky with the weather, it's probably going to be 90 degrees next year. So to have
an area that people can get out of the heat, and again, the Buskirk is a huge part of Kirkwood. So if
we get Buskirk in there, we might maybe do some stuff like that in there.
So Jordan, you shared ahead of the meeting that you're used to podcasting and what you do with a live
audience. And yet, boy, your enthusiasm really resonates with this audience. And whether the number
was 20,000 or whether it was 35,000, it's still really impressive and so good for Bloomington. So in
honor of your talk, a donation will be made this quarter to the Lake Monroe Water Fund. I'd like to
thank the volunteers for today.
Diana Hoffman, Tracy Yovanovich, Sam Udak, Joy Harder, Judy Schroeder, Michael Shermis, Jeff Richardson,
Sarah Loughlin, and Joy Harder, I think I may have mentioned you twice now, Joy Harder online, but you're
doing a really good job. Our next meeting will be on October 14th here in the Georgian Room. Brian Williams
will be speaking about generative artificial intelligence.
I know a little bit about what AI is. The whole generative part will be new to me, so it should be very
interesting. Tyler, if you could put up the graphic for the four-way test. Please stand if you're able.
Of the things we think, say, or do, first, is it the truth? Second, is it fair to all concern?
Third, will it build goodwill and better friendships? Fourth, will it be beneficial to all concerned?
And fifth, is it fun?