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Clarksville’s Chocolate Affair a real treat

Chocolate AffairClarksville, TN – Chocolate covered strawberries, pineapple coconut, brownies, strawberry blueberry, chocolate dipped marshmallows and barbecue with chocolate were just some of the treats at Clarksville’s 2nd Annual Chocolate Affair. The event, which took place Saturday, February 8th at the Wilma Rudolph Event Center, gave patrons a chance to sample confectionery choices from local businesses.

The event was put on by the Clarksville Department of Parks and Recreation and was sponsored by Planters Bank. The sell out crowd enjoyed some unique treats while listening to live music.

2nd Annual Chocolate Affair was held Saturday, February 8th.
2nd Annual Chocolate Affair was held Saturday, February 8th.

“The event been’s wonderful. We made a few changes from last year, last year being our first event. Instead of having 500 people all at once, this year we broke it into two groups of 300, “said Jennifer Byard with Clarksville Parks and Recreation. “We were able to accommodate 100 more people.”

“It’s a really good event, today has gone well. This is the second year I’ve done it. This year they’ve done a lot more to help the vendors with the flow of the customers and everything. It’s a great event,” stated Chartwells Catering’s Loretta Bearden.

Some of this years vendors included: Mami Chachi’s Empanadas, A Spoonful of Sugar Cupcakery and Desserts, Chartwells Catering, Canyon Road Steakhouse & Beer Garden, Grandma’s Apron, George the Cake Guy, Velata, Ann Marie’s Artisan Bakery, Relish, Beachaven Winery and others.

“I think it’s fun it’s a great night out! It’s something different from the usual things around town. We were here last year and loved it. I love the different varieties of chocolate,” stated Stacy Hoover. “I really liked the turtle cheesecake from GFS.”

“The gelato was really good,” said Michael Hoover. “The cherry cheesecake from the Poor Boys Market was excellent too.”

Beachaven Vineyards and Winery were on hand pouring samples of their wine. The three choices were Syrah, Budbreak Blush, Golden Rose.

“Last year we saw the Billboard and by the time that we looked into it the tickets were sold out so we bought our tickets early this year. I think it’s a nice event a great atmosphere, the only downfall is I wish they would had more chairs or something to lean against as you eat your samples, but it’s nice you to get to try something new,” said Michael and Melissa Rumble. “The chocolate chili was our favorite dish at the chocolate affair.”

Attendees had a chance to vote for the “Best Chocolate Offering” – “Best Decorated Booth” – and “Most Creative Use of Chocolate”. The 2014 winners are:

Best Chocolate Item – Poor Boy’s Market & Cafe
Best Decorated Booth – Relish: A Unique Eatery, Bakery, Catering & more
Most Creative Use of Chocolate – The Gingham Cafe

“We think everyone has been pleasantly surprised. There is not a lot of waiting. The lines are much shorter if at all. We changed the pattern of our layout and I think all the changes have worked out quite well,” stated Byard.

“Will we expand the event again for next year? That might be a little bit difficult. I don’t know that we have it in our capability to do a third session. It’s a long day for 600 people and the 600 samples our vendors have to make ahead of time to bring them here. So we probably wont expand too much,” said Byard.

When asked if there would be another Chocolate Affair event, Byard replied “Absolutely. We’ll be here about the same time next year.”

“I would encourage people to buy their tickets early because we sold out early this year than we did last year,” stated Byard. “We hope that Planters Bank will be on board next year. They were a wonderful sponsor to us. And we hope to continue bringing this event to Clarksville.”

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