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Jared Thompson, working a stand split between The Anchor and Pullman Bay, tends to the grill during the 2022 Taste of Celina.
CELINA - The downtown will play host to one of the biggest city events of the year tonight with the annual Taste of Celina, a smorgasbord of local cuisine, drinks and live music.
The Celina Mercer County Chamber of Commerce-sponsored event, with assistance from the city, will be held from 5 to 10 p.m. Main Street will be shut down from Warren to Market streets in the early morning.
Additionally, in conjunction with the downtown block party, the Mercer County Courthouse 100th Anniversary Celebration committee will have inflatables for children on the courthouse lawn. The courthouse auditorium will be open to the public from 6-8 p.m.
Steve Rosenbeck will serenade revelers as they fill themselves with food and drink.
"I think what we're going to find is people are going to be anxious to get out," Celina Mayor Jeff Hazel told The Daily Standard. "It is part of the summer season … and people really get excited going out and just having a taste of different things."
And for the first time, Taste of Celina revelers will be permitted to wassail about on the closed off section of Main Street now that Celina's Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area is in effect. Since May, adults of legal drinking age have been allowed to consume alcohol purchased from a bar or restaurant in DORA-designated cups outdoors within set boundaries from noon to 11 p.m. daily.
"I don't anticipate that we are going to have conflicts with it," Hazel said. "It may change the makeup of the crowd a bit with folks being able to walk around within that DORA area with an alcoholic beverage."
People can also take their drinks into DORA-participating shops but not into another bar or restaurant that serves alcohol.
"It has to be a licensed facility that's participating in the DORA. They have to buy a cup there," Hazel stressed. "They're single-use cups … so if they go into another facility they can't take a DORA cup in from somewhere to go in there. They'll have to buy one from there if they're going out."
The James Watson House's crab cakes and other delectable fare sizzle at the 2022 Taste of Celina.
Eight local eateries have devised a special menu for tonight, including the recently opened The James Watson House, which plans to offer hot jalapeño honey meatball skewers, bourbon glazed pork kabobs, grilled vegetable kabobs and six cheese mac.
Speakeasy Steak & Ale House, too, will have a surfeit of food - jumbo bacon wrapped scallops, western rib hickory bites, Olde York Smash steak slider and bread pudding.
Celina Manor Cafe will serve up mac and cheese and speciality brownies; Shandy's Grill & Bar will focus on tater kegs and wings; and Friendly Markets will furnish pork sandwiches, boneless wings and brat patties.
The Anchor's menu will consist of classic single burgers, barbacoa tacos, pork belly and Brussels and pies by The Bay, while Brew Nation plans to roll out house smoked brisket street tacos, wood fired pizza by the slice, loaded smoked pork nachos and house smoked wings.
McDonald's will have iced coffee, cookies and blueberry muffins.
In this 2021 file photo, a hungry youngster enjoys a meal from C-Town Wings.
Food tickets are $1 each and the restaurants typically charge between $1 to $5 per sampling item. Proceeds from ticket sales pay the restaurants for their food, and the little that's left goes to help fund the next year's event.
"As long as the weather holds up, I think we will have a big crowd, particularly with the DORA. I think that's going to draw folks out," Hazel said.
Since activated in May, the DORA has been rather touch and go, Hazel said, noting the weather has been "iffy" for the last few months.
"I think it has been available but I'm not sure how heavily it's been used," Hazel said.
He said he's heard no issues with the DORA other than from restauranteurs indicating they've been surprised they haven't sold more cups.
The Celina DORA covers a vast amount of territory, nearly 150 acres, the state maximum. It extends down Market Street and up to Grand Lake Road, havemann Road and Irmscher Boulevard. It also includes parts of West Bank Road and the boardwalk along Grand Lake known as the Celina Rotary Walkway after county commissioners approved a petition to annex parts of the road into Celina.
Without the annexation, the DORA would have not extended southward to include West Bank Inn and Bella's Italian Grille, officials had said.
The DORA does not cover any city parks. It includes about 25 alcohol permit holders.
The aim of the DORA is to enhance the experience of patrons in city businesses and attendees of special events held in Celina, legislation passed by Celina City Council members reads.
"This area includes restaurants, stores, financial institutions, professional services and miscellaneous retail," the state approved application reads. "While there are single-family residences and apartments in this area, the DORA was specifically designed to encompass key areas of business and retail in the community."
The city's role in the DORA includes placing information signs at every intersecting roadway within DORA boundaries, providing routine police patrols to enforce responsible behavior in the DORA and ensuring all trash receptacles in the DORA are emptied regularly. Moreover, the mayor, safety service director and police chief have the authority to shut down the DORA at any time without prior notice.
